No Damage or Injuries Reported from Mild S.C. Quake

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A minor earthquake shook parts of South Carolina’s Richland Count on last Thursday, emergency management officials said.

Earthquake sensors in South Carolina pegged the quake at a magnitude 2.4, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.

“At that magnitude, it should just feel like a large dump truck driving by,” College of Charleston geologist Erin Beutel said. “It wouldn’t cause much damage.”

The quake happened at 11:21 a.m. and was centered near Hopkins, which is southeast of Columbia in Richland County. There were no reports of injuries or damage, South Carolina Emergency Management Division spokesman Joe Farmer said.

“We got no requests from any of the counties for any kind of assistance,” Farmer said, adding that the state gets a number of earthquakes “each year but most of them are so minor that they cannot be felt by people.”

Christina Gyorfi, who works at a health care facility in downtown Columbia, felt and heard the small quake’s rumbles.

“It just felt like somebody was jumping on the roof or someone fell,” she said. “I can’t believe there was an earthquake in Columbia. That’s so weird.”

On average, South Carolina has 10 to 15 earthquakes that register below magnitude 3. An earthquake between magnitude 3 and 4 is recorded about once every 18 months, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.