The magnitude 3.1 quake happened at 6:07 Friday morning and was centered about five miles north of Columbus, North Carolina.
To give you some perspective on just how far it was felt, we got calls from Greer, Landrum, Inman, Rutherfordton and Lake Lure. Officials say there were no injuries and no damage from the quake.
The talk of the town is the quake. It took folks in Hendersonville and Polk counties completely by surprise. A lot of people thought the quake was an explosion and others thought a car went through their house. Polk County dispatch was flooded with calls from people wondering what was happening. Henderson County 911 had its fair share of callers too. Most people had no idea it was an earthquake.
Earthquakes in the Carolinas are not uncommon, in fact the last one we had was in Rutherfordton back in August that was a 2.8 magnitude.
We asked an expert if South Carolina can expect to have a major earthquake.
"In terms of a most likely spot in the Carolinas, the Charleston area, which, actually closer to Summerville which had a big earthquake in 1886, and continues to be the most active area," said Dr. Pradeep Talwani with the South Carolina Seismic Network.
Dr. Talwani says there's no way to know when an earthquake will hit but fault lines do make it possible to know the most likely areas to have them and how strong they might be.
Click here to learn more about earthquake hazards in South Carolina.
Click here to learn more about the earthquake from the US Geological Survey, and report to officials if you felt it.
Email
Facebook
Google
Twitter
Favorites
More
Advertisement