Home Inspection in Summerville, SC

SUMMERVILLE, S.C. (WCIV) — A series of small earthquakes over the past week has startled residents across Summerville and parts of the Lowcountry, marking an unusually active stretch for an area that typically feels only a handful of noticeable tremors each year.

Three earthquakes were confirmed near Summerville in just seven days, prompting concern, conversation, and questions about what’s happening beneath the ground, even though no injuries or major damage were reported.

For many neighbors, the earthquakes came without warning. Shirlene, a mom and longtime Summerville resident of 35 years, said the experience was frightening, unlike anything she remembers feeling before.

“That was scary,” she said. “Because it made the house move, and the sound was so loud.”

She recalled being shaken awake as her home shifted.

“I was scared. I was afraid — especially the house shift and my bed,” Shirlene said. “And the sound — it was really scary.”

Other residents reported similar experiences, describing houses shaking for several seconds and loud noises that sounded like explosions. One neighbor’s Ring doorbell camera even captured audio from the moment the earthquake struck, with a booming sound clearly audible in the recording.

Jessica, another Summerville resident, said she felt and heard one of the quakes while at work. “I happened to be working at the library, and I was just exiting the bathroom when I felt this shaking and heard it too,” she said. “I thought, ‘Well, that’s not the HVAC.’”

According to officials, the most recent quake was recorded early Monday morning in Dorchester County near the Kings Grant area. That tremor measured a magnitude 1.6. Before that, a stronger 2.9 magnitude earthquake struck late Saturday night, just before 10:40 p.m., rattling homes across the Tri-County area. Its shallow depth made it more noticeable to residents, even though experts classified it as minor.

The first quake in the series occurred Tuesday afternoon, measuring magnitude 2.3. Residents reported shaking and loud noises, but no damage.

Why are these earthquakes happening?

Local civil and structural engineer Gene Brislin, who also lives in Summerville, says the earthquakes are the result of stress being released deep beneath the Earth’s surface. “We are in a bad spot,” Brislin explained. “As stresses build up, the crack gets a little bigger, there’s some stress relief, and we get vibrations. That’s what happened in Summerville.”

Brislin says tectonic plates, massive slabs of rock beneath the Earth’s surface, are constantly moving. Most of the time, that movement goes unnoticed. But along cracks in the Earth’s crust, known as fault lines, plates can become stuck. One of those fault lines runs through the Lowcountry. As stress builds and is released in smaller bursts, residents may feel minor earthquakes.

“The threshold for the smaller ones to occur in terms of stress is much lower,” Brislin said. “In my opinion, the more smaller ones we have, the better off we are.”

Experts stress that these minor earthquakes are not necessarily a sign of a larger event to come.

“Many times, it’s not indicative of some bigger event that’s going to occur,” Brislin said. “It’s just a sign of this bad spot that we’re in.”

Brislin says helicorders are devices used to record seismic signals from a seismometer. Each line of data represents a specific time interval, allowing for the visualization of seismic activity over time.

Officials urge preparedness, awareness — not panic

Officials say South Carolina experiences dozens of earthquakes each year, most of them too small to be felt. While the recent activity has drawn attention, there are no reports of injuries or significant damage.

Still, emergency officials encourage residents to:

Some neighbors said the recent shaking prompted them to double-check their insurance policies, just in case. The recent earthquakes have also renewed discussion at the State House. State Rep.Gil Gatch says the activity highlights the importance of awareness, especially for people living near fault lines.

“I filed this bill wanting people to just be aware,” Gatch said. “We have dozens and dozens of mini earthquakes that nobody ever knows happen because nobody can really feel them.”

Gatch is the main sponsor of House Bill 3227, which would require insurance companies to notify policyholders about the availability of earthquake insurance, particularly for those living in fault-line areas. The bill has been referred to the Committee on Labor, Commerce, and Industry. Gatch says he hopes lawmakers will act before a more damaging earthquake occurs.

While the recent earthquakes have been unsettling for many, experts emphasize there is no immediate cause for concern.

“These smaller earthquakes are really just signs of where the weak spots in the Earth’s crust are,” Brislin said. For now, neighbors like Shirlene say they’re relieved no one was hurt, but they’ll be paying closer attention the next time their house creaks or the ground feels unsteady.