According to USGS, a fresh earthquake struck South Carolina today, shaking an area north of Columbia. The magnitude 2.3 earthquake struck from a depth of 7.2 km at 7:25 am this morning near the town of Winnsboro. This is the third earthquake to strike the area over the last 30 days and the strongest.
According to USGS, earthquakes with a magnitude of 2.0 or less are rarely felt or heard by people, but once they exceed 2.0, as this event did, more and more people can feel them. While damage is possible with magnitude 3.0 events or greater, significant damage and casualties usually don’t occur until the magnitude of a seismic event rises to a 5.5 or greater rated event.
South Carolina has been seismically active this year, with three other key areas getting earthquakes in recent weeks: the area just west of Columbia, an area east of Columbia that has seen a long-term swarm, and an area north and west of Charleston that has seen an uptick in seismic activity lately…