What geologists do to monitor and track earthquakes in the Lowcountry

Somerville, South Carolina (WCBD) – The many low-grade earthquakes that have been recorded in South Carolina over the past few months have sparked much discussion about the state’s risk for larger earthquakes.

The most powerful earthquake ever recorded along the East Coast occurred in the Summerville area in 1886.

That earthquake, nearly 140 years ago, had a magnitude of 7 and devastated downtown Charleston; It killed 83 people.

But Lowcountry is now much more populated, and many homes are closer to where the earthquake actually occurred.

Stephen Gumm is an assistant professor of geology at the College of Charleston and an expert on seismology.

“The problem with the earthquake of 1886 was that we didn’t have a seismograph at that time. We don’t have a clear mark on the ground where the fault reached the surface of the Earth.

135 years later: Experts remember the impact of the 1886 earthquake that shook Charleston

This is one of the reasons why Jaume and his students worked on a two-year project with Georgia Tech. They placed 19 temporary seismic scales at various locations in the Charleston area starting in June.

“There’s a sensor buried in the ground; you can see the solar panels and GPS for energy and time, and then there’s an electronics enclosure to actually record it.”

Data from these nineteen seismographs along with the already existing four permanent seismographs will help in several ways.

“Since we put them in it, nine Lowcountry earthquakes have been recorded, and we know at least there are 20 to 25 there with a first quick look, which will allow us to get a very precise location of these earthquakes. So there was one just a few days ago with a magnitude of 1 1/2, right, it’s only been scored by three out of the four permanent stations. But I’ll have at least another ten or so.”

So how will data identifying the exact location of the fault in Summerville help prepare us for a possible earthquake in the future?

“With this information, we can give it to the engineer who can best design buildings for an earthquake at this fault,” Jaume said.

“Even an earthquake not as strong as the 1886 earthquake can be devastating,” Jaume said.

“Even an earthquake of medium magnitude, like a magnitude 6 instead of 7, under Somerville, would cause an enormous amount of damage because there are so many people here.”

So what can you do if an earthquake occurs? If you’re in a wood-framed building…”the best thing to do is drill, drop, cover, and clamp,” he said.

Basically, get down and get under something that may protect you from falling objects. But don’t try to run outside.

“Because if the earthquake was strong enough to knock something down, you wouldn’t be able to run outside anyway. It would kick you off your feet.”

Peggy Pinnel is an insurance agent with State Farm in Moncks Corner.

“In the time I’ve lived here, I’ve seen hurricanes, I’ve seen tornadoes, and I’ve seen water rising fast. But I haven’t seen an earthquake,” she said.

This is one of the reasons why she says a lot of people don’t have earthquake coverage.

“Unless your policy is specifically endorsed with earthquake coverage, you will not have earthquake coverage in your home, and your car will be a different story. If you had comprehensive coverage you could have covered the earthquake,” she said.

So, if your homeowner’s insurance policy doesn’t specifically mention earthquake insurance, you won’t get anything in the event of an earthquake.

Bennell said earthquake insurance isn’t very cheap because if a major earthquake occurs, the damage to your home can be massive.

Demand for earthquake insurance surges after three tremors rocked the Lowcountry on Monday

“I can’t tell you when the big earthquake will happen. I wish I could. That Nobel Prize would look great on the wall if I could predict earthquakes. I can’t. So you just have to be prepared and assume it’s going to happen anytime.”

A 1.5-magnitude earthquake struck near Centerville earlier this morning. Three earthquakes were recorded in the Lowcountry on September 27. The largest earthquake of magnitude 3.3 struck near Centerville during the evening.

A low-magnitude earthquake was reported near Centerville in August, two small earthquakes were recorded near Ladson again in July, and a swarm of earthquakes was recorded in October and November in northern Columbia.

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