If you think you felt an earthquake tonight in Georgia or South Carolina around 10:23 p.m., you probably did.
Check out the U.S. Geological Survey’s list of “significant earthquakes.”
An estimated 4.1 magnitude quake was centered 12 km west northwest of Edgefield, S.C., not too far north of Augusta.
Here’s a screencap of the USGS map:
From that page:
Earthquakes in the Inland Carolinas Region
Since at least 1776, people living inland in North and South Carolina, and in adjacent parts of Georgia and Tennessee, have felt small earthquakes and suffered damage from infrequent larger ones. The largest earthquake in the area (magnitude 5.1) occurred in 1916. Moderately damaging earthquakes strike the inland Carolinas every few decades, and smaller earthquakes are felt about once each year or two.
Earthquakes in the central and eastern U.S., although less frequent than in the western U.S., are typically felt over a much broader region. East of the Rockies, an earthquake can be felt over an area as much as ten times larger than a similar magnitude earthquake on the west coast. A magnitude 4.0 eastern U.S. earthquake typically can be felt at many places as far as 100 km (60 mi) from where it occurred, and it infrequently causes damage near its source. A magnitude 5.5 eastern U.S. earthquake usually can be felt as far as 500 km (300 mi) from where it occurred, and sometimes causes damage as far away as 40 km (25 mi).
It’s interesting to look at the distribution of felt reports for tonight’s quake. As you can see there, even though a fair number of folks in the Savannah and Hilton Head areas have reported via social media that they felt tremors, the vast majority of reports have been north and west of the center. Also, note the rather extreme distances over which the quake was felt, illustrating the comment above about the broad regions that are impacted by quakes in the eastern U.S.
From the Augusta Chronicle:
The earthquake was felt as far away as Athens, Ga.; Atlanta; Spartanburg, S.C.; Columbia; and Charlotte, N.C.
There were no reports of damage. A spokesman for the Georgia Emergency Management Agency said such a quake would wake people, shake dishes, maybe knock a painting off a wall, but wouldn’t cause structural damage.Pam Tucker, Columbia County’s emergency management director, said she had contacted control room operators at Thurmond Dam and Hartwell Dam and there were no initial reports of damage. Personnel had been called in to do more detailed inspections.
CNN’s coverage relied on social media reports:
But unlike the snow and ice that just fell, the tenor of the tremor banter appeared to be light.
“Earthquake … don’t even think about canceling school,” one tweeter from South Carolina wrote. “My KIDS are going to school next week if they have to sit in parking lot.”
Another Palmetto State resident was incredulous about the roller coaster Mother Nature has been on lately: “So, South Carolina has had 70° weather, snow, and now an earthquake all in one week…”
I did not feel the earthquake tonight. I think I had just gotten home from the first of two Art Garfunkel performances at Dollhouse Productions this weekend, but I don’t recall feeling a thing, regrettably.