ELGIN, S.C. — If the ground was shaking, the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) can confirm there was another minor earthquake in Kershaw County Tuesday morning.
A magnitude 2.0, just about the level where you might feel some rumbling, was recorded at 7:39 a.m. Tuesday, June 20. The quake was centered 5 kilometers (3.1 miles) east-southeast of Elgin at a depth of 3.4 kilometers (2.11 miles).
According to the "Did you feel it" tab at USGS, 29 residents in the area claim to have felt the earthquake.
This area has been the site of an earthquake "swarm" since the end of 2021. The latest activity was on June 6, when a magnitude 1.7 was recorded 3.7 miles east-southeast of Elgin.
The bulk of the quakes happened from the end of 2021 through October of 2022 in and around Elgin. During that time, there were 83 minor quakes detected.
The unusual activity began on December 27,2021 when a 3.3 tremor struck. The largest of the quakes happened on June 29, 2022 when a 3.6 was recorded that afternoon, just hours after a 3.5 took place. The 3.6 quake was the strongest in the state in eight years.
Experts state the quakes were part of a swarm that appears to be the longest in the state's history. What caused the swarm still hasn't been definitively determined, but last year, the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources released a report that suggested the nearby Lake Wateree could be responsible. They believe the initial earthquake may have allowed water from the Wateree River to seep into new cracks that opened from the original December earthquake, which set off additional tremors in the area.
Earthquakes happen throughout the state but mostly occur near the coast. Approximately 70 percent of earthquakes are in the coastal plain, with most happening in the Lowcountry.