Sonic boom wasn’t responsible for latest round of rumbling in this part of SC

A day after a sonic boom shook up South Carolina residents some more traditional seismic activity returned to the Palmetto State.

Not one, but two earthquakes were recorded in the Upstate Friday evening, according to the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources Geological Survey.

A 1.8 magnitude earthquake was confirmed near the Cross Anchor area at 6:05 p.m., the South Carolina Emergency Management Division reported. Less than 20 minutes later, another earthquake was recorded in the same part of Spartanburg County as a 1.9 magnitude seismic event happened at 6:22 p.m., according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

The tremors were recorded at about 4 miles and 1 mile beneath the surface of the ground, respectively, USGS data shows. These were the sixth and seventh earthquakes confirmed in South Carolina since May 8.

Recent earthquakes

The recent seismic activity means that 24 earthquakes have been confirmed in South Carolina this year, according to the state’s Department of Natural Resources Geological Survey. Including Friday’s earthquakes, 12 of the past 16 were in the Columbia area.

On March 13, a 2.0 magnitude earthquake hit off the South Carolina coast, but that was in the Atlantic Ocean, not the Palmetto State.

Before Friday, the last earthquake recorded in South Carolina was a 1.9 magnitude quake a day earlier on May 27 in McCormick, according to the USGS. That’s more than 60 miles from Friday’s earthquakes.

There was continued seismic activity later Thursday, about 12 hours after the earthquake in McCormick.

Although it was not an earthquake, more than 1,700 people have reported feeling the sonic boom that occurred at 5:24 p.m., according to the S.C. Emergency Management Division. The boom sounded like an explosion, with a brief shaking and was centered in the St. Andrews area of Columbia, USGS data shows.

Sonic booms can occur when aircraft, meteorites or other rapidly moving objects exceed the speed of sound. But the source of the recent booming sound remains unknown.

There were 35 confirmed earthquakes in South Carolina in 2025.

In 2024, there were 30 earthquakes in the Palmetto State, after 28 quakes were recorded in 2023, South Carolina DNR records show.

History of earthquakes in SC

It had been uncommon for earthquakes to hit outside the Midlands area of the Palmetto State, specifically beyond Kershaw County, where 75 earthquakes have been confirmed since the end of June 2022, according to the South Carolina DNR.

That’s also where South Carolina’s most powerful recent earthquakes were recorded on June 29, 2022.

On that day, two earthquakes — one a 3.5 magnitude and the other 3.6 — were included in a flurry of tremors and aftershocks. Those were the two largest quakes to hit South Carolina in nearly a decade. A 4.1-magnitude quake struck McCormick County in 2014.

Anyone who felt tremors and shaking or heard rumbling from either of Friday’s earthquakes can report it to the USGS.

The most recent earthquakes mean at least 191 have been detected in the Palmetto State since the start of 2022, according to South Carolina DNR. All but 64 of the quakes have been in the Midlands.

In all, 132 earthquakes have hit the Columbia area since a 3.3-magnitude quake was recorded Dec. 27, 2021, according to the DNR.

The S.C. Emergency Management Division said the majority of the recent earthquakes were classified as a micro quakes, according to the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale.

No major damage or injuries have been reported from the recent seismic activity or any of the other recent quakes.

Earthquakes that register 2.5 magnitude or less often go unnoticed and are usually recorded only by a seismograph, according to Michigan Technological University. Any quake less than 5.5 magnitude is not likely to cause significant damage, the school said.

It had been typical for South Carolina to have between six and 10 earthquakes a year, the S.C. Geological Survey previously reported. There have been 201 earthquakes in South Carolina since Jan. 18, 2021, according to DNR. During a 2022 town hall to address the earthquakes, state geologist Scott Howard said as many as 200 smaller tremors might have gone unnoticed and unrecorded.

The strongest earthquake ever recorded in South Carolina — and on the East Coast of the United States — was a devastating 7.3 in Charleston in 1886.

That quake killed 60 people and was felt over 2.5 million square miles, from Cuba to New York and Bermuda to the Mississippi River, according to the state EMD.

Reported earthquakes in SC 2025-26

Noah Feit

The State

803-771-8435

Noah Feit is a Real Time reporter with The State focused on breaking news, public safety and trending news. The award-winning journalist has worked for multiple newspapers since starting his career in 1999. Support my work with a digital subscription