Has to be the weight of the snow rapidly melting due to global warming.
Via WISTV
The United States Geological Survey reported a magnitude 4.1 earthquake about 7 miles northwest of Edgefield Friday around 10:23 p.m. The agency earlier had reported a magnitude of 4.4 before revising it downward.
USGS geophysicist Dale Grant told WIS the quake was only about three miles deep.
“Shallow quakes generate most of their quakes from the surface, so it is widely felt,” Grant said. “We have reports of it being felt throughout South Carolina and Georgia and southern parts of North Carolina.”
Edgefield County Emergency Manager Mike Casey said no damage has been reported so far but added reports may roll in once the sun comes up.
“We might expect some shaking and things falling off shelves, but with this being a light quake, I don’t think that it’s going to generate any extensive damage,” Grant said.
According to the South Carolina Emergency Management Division, all nuclear facilities in the area reported stable and normal operations after the earthquake.
The largest earthquake in the area was a magnitude 5.1, which occurred in 1916, according to the USGS.
“We do have a historical background here, close to this location,” Grant said. “August 2, 1974, it was a 4.3 and we have had three others in addition to that historically over the last 40 years.”