Earthquake hits part of South Carolina where seismic activity isn’t regular

A busy month for earthquakes in South Carolina continued Thursday morning, but the most recent seismic activity was recorded in a part of the Palmetto State where tremors don’t occur frequently.

A 1.9 magnitude earthquake was recorded in the McCormick area, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The seismic activity hit at 4:20 a.m. in the area near the Georgia state line, the South Carolina Emergency Management Division said.

The tremors near Strom Thurmond Lake were recorded about 4 miles beneath the surface of the ground, USGS data shows. It was the fifth earthquake recorded in South Carolina May 8.

Recent earthquakes

The recent seismic activity means that 22 earthquakes have been confirmed in South Carolina this year, according to the state’s Department of Natural Resources Geological Survey. Including Thursday’s earthquake, 12 of the past 14 were in the Columbia area.

On March 13, a 2.0 magnitude earthquake hit off the South Carolina coast, but that was in the Atlantic Ocean, not the Palmetto State.

Before Thursday, the last earthquake recorded in South Carolina was a 1.9 magnitude quake on May 22 in Irmo, according to the USGS.

There were 35 confirmed earthquakes in South Carolina in 2025.

In 2024, there were 30 earthquakes in the Palmetto State, after 28 quakes were recorded in 2023, South Carolina DNR records show.

A look at the fault lines running through South Carolina. South Carolina Emergency Management Division

History of earthquakes in SC

It had been uncommon for earthquakes to hit outside the Midlands area of the Palmetto State, specifically beyond Kershaw County, where 75 earthquakes have been confirmed since the end of June 2022, according to the South Carolina DNR.

That’s also where South Carolina’s most powerful recent earthquakes were recorded on June 29, 2022.

On that day, two earthquakes — one a 3.5 magnitude and the other 3.6 — were included in a flurry of tremors and aftershocks. Those were the two largest quakes to hit South Carolina in nearly a decade. A 4.1-magnitude quake struck McCormick County in 2014.

Anyone who felt tremors and shaking or heard rumbling from Friday’s earthquake can report it to the USGS.

The most recent earthquake means at least 189 have been detected in the Palmetto State since the start of 2022, according to South Carolina DNR. All but 62 of the quakes have been in the Midlands.

In all, 132 earthquakes have hit the Columbia area since a 3.3-magnitude quake was recorded Dec. 27, 2021, according to the DNR.

The S.C. Emergency Management Division said the majority of the recent earthquakes were classified as a micro quakes, according to the Modified Mercalli Intensity Scale.

No major damage or injuries have been reported from the recent seismic activity or any of the other recent quakes.

Earthquakes that register 2.5 magnitude or less often go unnoticed and are usually recorded only by a seismograph, according to Michigan Technological University. Any quake less than 5.5 magnitude is not likely to cause significant damage, the school said.

It had been typical for South Carolina to have between six and 10 earthquakes a year, the S.C. Geological Survey previously reported. There have been 199 earthquakes in South Carolina since Jan. 18, 2021, according to DNR. During a 2022 town hall to address the earthquakes, state geologist Scott Howard said as many as 200 smaller tremors might have gone unnoticed and unrecorded.

The strongest earthquake ever recorded in South Carolina — and on the East Coast of the United States — was a devastating 7.3 in Charleston in 1886.

That quake killed 60 people and was felt over 2.5 million square miles, from Cuba to New York and Bermuda to the Mississippi River, according to the state EMD.

Reported earthquakes in SC 2025-26

Date/LocationMagnitudeDepth (km)2025Jan. 8/Jenkinsville1.93.0Jan. 31/Elgin2.03.1Feb. 9/Salem1.61.9Feb. 15/Elgin2.02.4March 19/Elgin1.52.2April 24/Elgin2.32.4April 26/Elgin2.62.4May 1/Lancaster2.24.5June 5/Tigerville2.212July 5/Parksville2.711July 16/Summerville2.21Aug. 9/Bucksport1.99Aug. 18/Coronaca2.24Aug. 19/Coronaca1.75Aug. 20/Ware Shoals2.03.2Aug. 23/Coronaca2.96.8Aug. 23/Coronaca3.02.1Aug. 23/Coronaca2.51.3Aug. 23/Coronaca1.90.1Aug. 23/Coronaca2.00.3Aug. 23/Coronaca2.45.4Aug. 23/Coronaca1.86.4Aug. 23/Coronaca2.18.0Aug. 24/Coronaca1.80.4Aug. 25/Coronaca2.00.4Aug. 25/Coronaca1.75.5Aug. 26/Coronaca2.40.3Aug. 27/Coronaca2.00.4Sept. 13/Ware Shoals1.70.0Sept. 26/Coronaca2.25.6Sept. 29/Kershaw1.812.8Oct. 1/Coronaca1.80.0Nov. 9/Centerville1.87.9Nov. 21/Ladson1.95.2Nov. 28/Elgin2.03.72026Jan. 20/Elgin2.74.1Jan. 27/Elgin2.14.7Feb. 3/Centerville2.37.7Feb. 7/Centerville2.95.2Feb. 9/Ladson1.66.2Feb. 11/Ladson1.64.7Feb. 11/Centerville2.50.7Feb. 12/Centerville1.85.0Feb. 13/Irmo2.83.9Feb. 15/Irmo2.03.6Feb. 16/Irmo1.85.0Feb. 26/Lexington3.00.2March 1/Columbia2.24.0March 19/Columbia2.18.9April 21/Winnsboro2.35.5April 21/Gayle Mill1.71.8April 28/Lugoff1.33.1May 8/Winnsboro2.37.2May 9/Winnsboro2.43.0May 15/Calhoun Falls2.12.1May 22/Irmo1.917.7May 28/McCormick1.96.9

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Noah Feit is a Real Time reporter with The State focused on breaking news, public safety and trending news. The award-winning journalist has worked for multiple newspapers since starting his career in 1999.
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