Midwest quake causes ripple in tremor-prone lowcountry

Repercussions from Friday's 5.2 magnitude earthquake in Illinois rippled through the Lowcountry.

Inquiries came all day to the South Carolina Earthquake Education and Preparedness Center at the College of Charleston as well as to a local author of a book about the Great Earthquake on 1886.

Quakes are fairly common in the Lowcountry, where faults converge beneath the Ashley River. A dozen or more smaller temblors are recorded per year. A 2.5 magnitude temblor struck near Hanahan in October 2007. The devastating 1886 Charleston earthquake killed 100 people and destroyed or damaged most of the buildings in Charleston and Summerville.

"Every time this happens it renews the interest and, thank goodness, the awareness about earthquakes in Charleston and the threat they present," said Mount Pleasant author Richard Cote, who wrote "City of Heroes" about the 1886 quake and recovery.

Friday's quake occurred at 4:30 a.m. six miles from West Salem, Ill., and 45 miles from Evansville, Ind. It rattled skyscrapers in Chicago, homes in Cincinnati and was felt as far as Atlanta, nearly 400 miles away. Dozens of aftershocks followed, one with a magnitude of 4.6. No major injuries or damage were reported by Friday afternoon.

The quake is believed to have involved the Wabash fault, a northern extension of the New Madrid fault. It came shortly after the release of a study by a Northwestern University in Chicago seismologist that suggested another catastrophic temblor like the 1886 quake, or the 1811-1812 New Madrid quake along the Mississippi River, might not be as imminent as people think.

Read more in Saturday's edition of The Post and Courier.