ELGIN, S.C. — Yet another earthquake shook the Midlands overnight. The United States Geological Survey is reporting a Magnitude 3.4 earthquake occurred at 1:31 AM Sunday morning near I-20, Whiting Way, and K Land Rd. in Kershaw County.
The epicenter of the quake was fairly shallow at a depth of 3km or about 1.8 miles. Because of this, the shaking was felt by many across the region including the Midlands and neighboring areas.
The earthquake was felt as far away as Augusta, Georgia and Charlotte, North Carolina as over 2000 reports have come in to the USGS. At a M 3.4 Moderate shaking can be expected but no damage typically occurs at this strength.
If the strength holds, this would be the strongest earthquake to hit the region since they began late last year.
As of 9 AM Sunday morning, 3 aftershocks have been reported from the USGS in the Elgin area including a M1.3 and two M1.8 earthquakes.
The area's rumblings began on Dec. 27 with a fairly noticeable magnitude of 3.3. Since then, numerous earthquakes have occurred including nine in the the month of April - of which one was another magnitude 3.3.
Experts suggest these earthquakes all happened along a portion of the Eastern Piedmont Fault, which runs from Alabama to Virginia. However, no exact reason for the sudden earthquakes, or their clustering in the Elgin area, has yet been provided.