Shaken, not stirred
That's the news in the Lowcountry today. At about 7.40 a.m., while getting ready for work, the house was shaken for about 4 seconds and a rumble was heard, which was initially thought to a clandestine meeting between Governor Sanford, Speaker Harell, Nikki Haley, Nathan Ballentine and Ashley Landess. Or maybe a Marine fighter pilot getting a little fast during the morning flight time.
But it turn out to be a geniune real live earthquake and was felt from Summerville to Goose Creek to Moncks Corner, possibly caused by the same fault line which caused the great earthquake of 1888 (which is about a half mile from the home of yours truly). The official Richter Scale reports rated it a mere 3.6, which is far stronger than the half dozen or so 2 point something tremors that hit the Dorchester Road side of Summerville every year, but still pretty minor.
There were no reports of damage, but we've gotten a flurry of calls and emails from everyone wanting to know what went down and if all is well -it is, but thanks for checking in with us!
So that's the news. Go back to work everyone.
But it turn out to be a geniune real live earthquake and was felt from Summerville to Goose Creek to Moncks Corner, possibly caused by the same fault line which caused the great earthquake of 1888 (which is about a half mile from the home of yours truly). The official Richter Scale reports rated it a mere 3.6, which is far stronger than the half dozen or so 2 point something tremors that hit the Dorchester Road side of Summerville every year, but still pretty minor.
There were no reports of damage, but we've gotten a flurry of calls and emails from everyone wanting to know what went down and if all is well -it is, but thanks for checking in with us!
So that's the news. Go back to work everyone.
At least you weren't going OJ on her, like other people like to do in this state.
It would be a really cool if you wrote a post on the earthquake sands that were recovered after the big charleston quake. In summerville, they recovered sands that sprouted up from the earth along the fault line in like 12 different colors because of the various minerals. According to the museum, it was supposedly the only time this ever happened.
In my day job, we see and deal with more about local soils than most people.
When we did some preliminary work while competing for the design-build proposal on the second phase of the Palmetto Commerce Parkway, the seismic standards that had to be met for bridge design were the highest anywhere in SC.
There's a rough circle centered at the Walmart on Dorchester Road, radiating out about 3-4 miles in which most of the state's tremors take place - with several in the low to mid 2 point range a year.
And to think my house and my office are in that zone. Good thing I'm just renting?