All shook up on Valentine's - earthquakes in the Upstate

Because snow and sleet just aren’t enough, let’s throw an earthquake into the mix!

 

I wrote last Friday about the crazy weather we’ve had in the Upstate recently. The snow from winter storm Pax mostly melted over Valentine’s Day, but the boys enjoyed a day outside in their snow boots and long sleeved shirts during the 65˚ day. As of today, the snowmen in the front yard are still standing, but resemble large mounds of snow instead of actual forms as the weekend was gorgeous with sunny, warm weather. However on Valentine’s evening we had an interesting shake-up – my first earthquake!

Source: here

 

At 10:23pm Roberts and I were finishing up evening chores, and the boys were already asleep when a 4.1 quake hit 7 miles from Edgefield, SC. About 90 miles south of us, Edgefield is close to the GA border, so unsurprisingly the earthquake was felt all the way from Georgia to North Carolina. Said to have been a rather large quake for the area, no damage has been reported other than minor cracks and a few collapsed walls. The SC Emergency Management Division said that the state receives about 15-20 registered earthquakes per year and Friday night's was the 13th in the past year. The largest since a 4.4 earthquake in Charleston in 2002, it was nowhere close to as big as the 7.3 quake that struck Charleston in 1886.

 

Our earthquake felt like a large truck driving by, or an extended gale of wind; the windows rattled, the walls creaked and both Roberts and I were in slight disbelief that it had been an quake until we verified it on the USGS site a few minutes later. Thankful that it was just a minor one and no injuries have been reported, it was nonetheless an exciting evening for us here in the Upstate. I can only imagine what the next week has in store for us!