The Facts About the 1886 Charleston, SC Earthquake from: http://www.csuniv.edu/Academics/Quake/scebrochure.htm The following list of facts about the 1886 Charleston Earthquake provides answers for the frequently asked questions about the most damaging earth- quake to ever occur in the eastern United States. Date of occurrence - August 31, 1886 (Tuesday). The main shock was followed by an aftershock two minutes later and many more shocks for the following three years. Time - 9:51 p.m. Eastern Standard Time Magnitude = 7.6 (Johnson, 1991) Intensity on Modified Mercalli Scale = X Two epicenters were reported by Dutton (1889). They were: Woodstock, a railroad stop on the Southern Railway leading into Charleston. This is 21 miles northwest of Charleston (Shedlock, 1988). Ravenel, a small town 23 miles southwest of Charleston, SC. Felt over 2.5 million square miles (From Cuba to New York, and Bermuda to the Mississippi). Approximately 110 persons lost their lives. Ninety percent (90 percent) of the brick structures in Charleston were damaged (Dutton, 1889). Damaging secondary effects were fires, ruptured water and sewage lines, damaged wells, flooding from cracked dam in Langley, South Carolina, and in the highest intensity area bent railroad tracks, throwing one train off the tracks. Dollar damage estimates in 1886 dollars were about $5.5 million. Approximately 70 percent of all the present day South Carolina Coastal Plain earthquakes have occurred within the highest intensity area of the 1886 Charleston earthquake. (Shedlock, 1988) There was some slumping on the Ashley River banks during the 1886 earthquake. Numerous craterlets or sandblows were formed in lower South Carolina. Some sandblows near the North Carolina border were found in the 1980s. Earthquakes do not open up cracks to swallow whole neighborhoods. In the 1886 Charleston earthquake many people panicked, but everyone gathered their wits and resources to recover from the devastating event. Some businesses reopened in two days. At Columbia, Augusta, Raleigh, Atlanta and Savannah, the fright and concern of all people were universal. In all of the large towns within 200 miles of Charleston, houses and other structures were damaged. Scientists are searching to determine the cause of the 1886 Charleston earthquake. The geologic fault or faults causing the 1886 earthquake and the small earthquakes in South Carolina today cannot be seen on the surface of the earth. The fault(s) are buried under deep (several kilometers) sediments.