Posted on Tue, Sep. 26, 2006

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Pee Dee hit again by quake

Minor temblor is second in recent days for area; no injuries, damage reported

By SEANNA ADCOX

The Associated Press

WALLACE — A minor earthquake awakened residents early Monday in Marlboro County, the second quake to hit the area in several days.

The magnitude 3.7 quake hit at 1:44 a.m. and was centered near Society Hill in the northeast corner of South Carolina, about 90 miles southeast of Charlotte, according to the National Earthquake Information Center.

The intensity increased slightly from earlier reports because more information was available, said Jessica Sigala, a geophysicist with the center.

There were no reports of injuries or damage. But authorities received calls from residents who were woken by their shaking houses, said Roy Allison, director of emergency management for Marlboro County.

“I did feel it. I woke up to it,” Allison said. “We were asleep and then we just felt the house kind of shake and felt a little rumble and figured we had had another one.”

A magnitude 3.5 quake shook the area Friday. The centers of the two quakes were about 10 miles apart.

There were some reports of cracked windows in Friday’s quake but no serious damage.

Sigala said the area gets small earthquakes now and then because of faults connected to the Appalachian Mountains.

“They do occur there, but I couldn’t tell you when the last one was felt besides Friday,” she said. “There’s no fear of a bigger earthquake. These (small tremors) just happen.”

But Allison said having two so close together has some concerned.

“People are starting to pay attention,” Allison said. “You can’t predict these like the hurricanes.”

Marlboro County School District spokeswoman Deborah Wimberly, who also handles emergency preparations for the district, said she has plans for hurricanes and snow, but “earthquakes haven’t been at the top of my list.”

She is working with Allison to see what plans might be needed.

“There’s no damage to any of our buildings,” she said. “It does concern me that we’ve had two. They certainly were unexpected.”

South Carolina each year has, on average, between 10 and 15 earthquakes that register below magnitude 3. An earthquake between 3 and 4 is recorded about once every 18 months.

“The windows sounded like they were about to bust out,” said Valerie Perhealth, whose father owns Wayne’s New and Used Furniture and Appliances in Wallace, about 10 miles north of Monday’s quake. “It scared me so bad. It’s got everybody scared the big one’s going to hit.”

The most devastating quake on record for South Carolina was a magnitude 7.3 that rumbled near Charleston on Aug. 31, 1886, killing more than 100 people and destroying about $5 million worth of property — worth $103 million when adjusted to 2005 figures for inflation.

“It’s kind of freaky,” Perhealth said. “We don’t worry about earthquakes here, that’s California.”