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Historic Earthquakes

Charleston, South Carolina
1886 September 01 02:51 UTC (local August 31)
Magnitude 7.3
Intensity X

Largest Earthquake in South Carolina

Damage Photos

Photo of earthquake
Brick House at 157 Tradd Street, wrecked by Charleston earthquake of August 31, 1886. 		Photo of earthquake
Derailed locomotive on Ten Mile Hill.
Photo of earthquake
Damage from Charleston earthquake of August 31, 1886. 		Photo of earthquake
The worst earthquake wreck in Charleston.
Photo of earthquake
Displaced monument in graveyeard. 		Photo of earthquake
People encamped in city park public square in Charleston after the earthquake.

Photos from the Earth Science Photographs from the U.S. Geological Survey Library, by Joseph K. McGregor and Carl Abston, U.S. Geological Survey Digital Data Series DDS-21, 1995.

damage photo
Public building in Charleston, South Carolina, severely damaged by the September 1, 1886, earthquake.

damage photo
Craterlet from a sand spout at Ten Hill, Berkeley County, South Carolina, formed by the September 1, 1886, Charleston earthquake. (Photograph aby J.K. Hillers.)

Abridged from Seismicity of the United States, 1568-1989 (Revised), by Carl W. Stover and Jerry L. Coffman, U.S. Geological Survey Professional Paper 1527, United States Government Printing Office, Washington: 1993.