ELGIN, S.C. — Nearly two weeks of relative quiet, seismically speaking, has ended in the Lugoff and Elgin areas of Kershaw County care of a small earthquake felt Saturday afternoon - and confirmed Sunday morning.
The magnitude 1.6 earthquake was centered near Fort Jackson Road near Jordan Road - which is the same general area where most of the earthquakes in the region have been felt. The quake was initially classified at a magnitude of 1.3 but was upgraded during the midmorning hours of Sunday.
As of 9:30 a.m., only about five people reported having felt the earthquake, which was at a magnitude well below the threshold at which most humans notice them.
The quake, according to the U.S. Geological Survey, is the 77th one in a swarm that has been fairly consistent since Dec. 27, 2021. While some theories are now surfacing about a possible cause, including a potential connection to the Wateree River, the exact explanation for the seismic swarm is still unclear.