QuakeIndex

mining explosion · reviewed by a seismologist

M 1.8ml

1 km NE of Cayce, South Carolina

· 0.0 km deep · released about 15 lb of TNT

Felt it? Tell USGS Check my area
10 km30 km60 km120 km N Richland County 16 kmLexington County 22 kmCalhoun County 42 kmFairfield County 47 kmKershaw County 59 kmNewberry County 61 kmSaluda County 62 kmSumter County 63 kmOrangeburg County 65 km
Distance rings around the epicentre, with the nearest towns at their true direction and later quakes as coloured dots. Not a shaking map — see the USGS ShakeMap for that.
When
Magnitude
M 1.8 (ml)
Depth
0.0 km below the surface
Felt
10 reports · strongest reported intensity III
Nearest
Richland County, 16 km ENE
Status
Reviewed by a seismologist

USGS · last changed by USGS · we first saw it 1254 days ago

This was a minor earthquake. Quakes this small are rarely felt and do not cause damage. 10 people have reported feeling it to USGS.

USGS catalogues this as mining explosion, not an earthquake.

How big was it?

This earthquake released about 15 lb of TNT. Magnitude is logarithmic: each whole step up releases about 32 times more energy, so a magnitude 2.8 would have released about 32 times as much.

  1. Mineral, Virginia 2011 M 5.8 1,000,000× the energy of this one
  2. Magna, Utah 2020 M 5.7 710,000× the energy of this one
  3. Around the size people start to feel M 3.0 63× the energy of this one
  4. This earthquake M 1.8 about 15 lb of TNT

Energy from the Gutenberg–Richter relation (log10E = 1.5M + 4.8), rounded to two figures; bar length is magnitude, which is already a logarithm of energy. Magnitudes of past earthquakes from the USGS catalogue.

Where

Epicentre 33.9762, -81.0611. Map © OpenStreetMap contributors.

Nearby places

PlaceDistanceDirection
Richland County, SC 16 km (10 mi) WSW of here earthquakes near Richland County
Lexington County, SC 22 km (13 mi) ENE of here earthquakes near Lexington County
Calhoun County, SC 42 km (26 mi) NW of here earthquakes near Calhoun County
Fairfield County, SC 47 km (29 mi) S of here earthquakes near Fairfield County
Kershaw County, SC 59 km (37 mi) SW of here earthquakes near Kershaw County
Newberry County, SC 61 km (38 mi) SE of here earthquakes near Newberry County

Places and coordinates from the US Census Bureau Gazetteer (2024). Distances are from the epicentre.

Aftershocks so far

43 earthquakes have been recorded within 50 km since this one.

  1. 2.2 6 km E of Elgin, South Carolina
  2. 1.9 11 km N of Irmo, South Carolina
  3. 2.1 3 km W of Irmo, South Carolina
  4. 2.2 5 km SSE of Lake Murray of Richland, South Carolina
  5. 3.0 5 km WSW of Irmo, South Carolina
  6. 1.8 5 km WSW of Irmo, South Carolina
  7. 2.0 5 km WSW of Irmo, South Carolina
  8. 2.8 4 km WSW of Irmo, South Carolina
  9. 2.1 5 km SSW of Lugoff, South Carolina
  10. 2.7 5 km ESE of Elgin, South Carolina
  11. 2.0 7 km E of Elgin, South Carolina
  12. 2.6 6 km E of Elgin, South Carolina
  13. 2.3 6 km E of Elgin, South Carolina
  14. 1.6 6 km ESE of Elgin, South Carolina
  15. 1.9 8 km SE of Elgin, South Carolina

Counted from the QuakeIndex database, which ingests the USGS feed every 30 seconds · as of . QuakeIndex does not forecast aftershocks. When USGS issues an operational aftershock forecast it appears on the USGS event page.

On USGS

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