Small earthquake strikes South Carolina’s Lowcountry on Friday
A small earthquake struck South Carolina’s Lowcountry just before noon Friday.
The 2.4 magnitude quake was centered 3 miles west-northwest of Summerville, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. That’s about 188 miles southeast of Charlotte and about 25 miles northwest of Charleston.
People typically don’t feel such low-intensity quakes, according to the Geological Survey’s magnitude/intensity comparsion chart.
The quake struck at 11:58 a.m. about 2.4 miles below the earth’s surface, according to the Geological Survey .
The Palmetto State has fault lines running through it, and earthquakes “are not an uncommon occurrence,” the S.C. Department of Natural Resources says.
The most intense struck at 9:51 p.m. Aug. 31, 1886.
The 7.6 magnitude quake killed 60 people, destroyed Charleston’s brick and masonry buildings and damaged structures up to 200 miles from Charleston.
Joe Marusak: 704-358-5067, @jmarusak
This story was originally published August 25, 2017 at 10:12 PM with the headline "Small earthquake strikes South Carolina’s Lowcountry on Friday."