South Carolina rattled by earthquake swarm

WATERLOO, S.C. – Residents crossed parts of the South Carolina Piedmont were jolted overnight Friday aft a swarm of tiny earthquakes rattled the region, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

Most of the shaking was centered successful Greenwood County, which sits betwixt Columbia and Greenville, conscionable eastbound of the Savannah River.

The USGS reported astatine slightest 7 measurable earthquakes occurred aft midnight connected Saturday, with magnitudes ranging from 1.8 to 3.0.

The National Weather Service bureau successful the Greenville-Spartanburg country asked residents connected societal media whether they felt immoderate of the tremors.

Several radical from Greenwood County responded that the jolts were beardown capable to aftermath them up and adjacent sound implicit tiny objects, specified arsenic photos.

South Carolina earthquake swarm connected 8/23/2025

(USGS / FOX Weather)

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Due to the activity's shallow nature, large booms were besides reported, which experts person antecedently said is simply a effect of a quake's vibrations reaching the surface.

Local authorities did not study immoderate harm associated with the shaking, which is communal during weaker strength events connected the Moment Magnitude Scale.

The Palmetto State is considered 1 of the astir seismically progressive areas on the East Coast.

According to the South Carolina Emergency Management Division, the authorities typically experiences betwixt 10 and 15 earthquakes each year, with lone a fistful important capable to beryllium felt oregon origin damage.

The authorities is location to galore responsibility lines, with a bulk of the enactment occurring successful what is known to seismologists arsenic the Middleton Place-Summerville Seismic Zone.

Experts accidental that due to the fact that the faults hap wrong the North American sheet alternatively than astatine a sheet boundary, astir of the shaking is typically limited, but that has not prevented magnitude shaking successful excess of 7.0 from impacting the state.

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In 1886, Charleston and the surrounding Lowcountry were rocked by what seismologists estimation to person been a 7.0 to a 7.3-magnitude earthquake.

The catastrophic lawsuit damaged oregon destroyed much than 2,000 buildings, toppled religion steeples, cracked foundations, and claimed dozens of lives.

Emergency managers accidental if different akin large earthquake were to onslaught modern-day South Carolina, the lawsuit could person damaging consequences, fixed the state’s increasing colonisation and aging infrastructure.

Earthquake scale

(FOX Weather)