QuakeIndex

Seismic zone · South Carolina

Charleston liquefaction features

not measuredhow fast it slips
last 150 yearssince it last broke the surface
3quakes of M2.5+ within 10 km since 2016

In plain English

It has broken the ground surface within the last 150 years.

The largest earthquake recorded near it was M 7.0 in 1886 (The 1886 Charleston, South Carolina Earthquake) — about 1,100,000 times the energy of an M3.0, the size people start to feel. It released about 530 kilotons of TNT.

This week vs. its last ten years

Too quiet to rank: fewer than half a year's worth of weeks with any M1.5+ quake within 5 km, in ten years. A single quake here would read as "unusual", so we do not score it.

Computed from the USGS catalogue · a description of the past, not a forecast · method

M 7.0 · 1886 · The 1886 Charleston, South Carolina Earthquake
The Charleston liquefaction features as mapped at the surface (glowing), with the other mapped faults nearby, 3 of the M2.5+ earthquakes within 10 km of it since 2016 (dots), and the epicentres of the large historic earthquakes recorded near it (rings). Traces: USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database. Historic epicentres are estimates.

Every year since 2016

Earthquakes of M2.5+ with an epicentre within 10 km of the mapped trace. Near is not the same as on: some will have slipped on neighbouring faults.

The big ones recorded near it

  1. M 7.0 The 1886 Charleston, South Carolina Earthquake
    September 1, 1886 · epicentre on the trace

Before 1973 from the USGS ComCat historical catalogue (within 25 km; epicentres of old earthquakes are estimates). Since 2016, M4+ within 10 km.

Most recent near it

  1. M 2.9 6 km SW of Ladson, South Carolina
    2026-02-08 · 0 km from the trace
  2. M 3.3 South Carolina
    2021-09-27 · 0 km from the trace
  3. M 2.8 3 km NNE of Summerville, South Carolina
    2021-09-27 · 1 km from the trace

Fault trace, slip rate and age: USGS Quaternary Fault and Fold Database (public domain), simplified for the web. Earthquakes: USGS ComCat. QuakeIndex does not forecast earthquakes; a fault's history describes the past. For early warning use ShakeAlert.