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Figures of losses from this devastating earthquake were near $8,000,000, assessed sometime within the first few years after the quake.
The Earthquake of 1886 was one of the largest historic earthquakes in eastern North America, and by far the largest earthquake in the southeastern United States. A major shock occurred on August 31, 1886, at approximately 9:50 p.m., and lasted less than one minute. It resulted in approximately sixty deaths and extensive damage to the city of Charleston. Structural damage was reported several hundred kilometers from Charleston (including central Alabama, central Ohio, eastern Kentucky, southern Virginia, and western West Virginia), and long-period effects were observed at distances exceeding 1,000 kilometers.
Effects in the epicentral region included about 80 kilometers of severely damaged railroad track and more than 1,300 square kilometers of extensive cratering and fissuring. Damage to railroad tracks, about 6 kilometers northwest of Charleston, included lateral and vertical displacement of tracks, formation of S-shaped curves and longitudinal movement.
The formation of sand craterlets and the ejection of sand were widespread in the epicentral area, but surface faulting was not observed. Many acres of ground were overflowed with sand, and craterlets as much as 6.4 meters across were formed. In a few locations, water from the craterlets spouted to heights of about 4.5 to 6 meters. Fissures 1 meter wide extended parallel to canal and stream banks. A series of wide cracks opened parallel to the Ashley River, and several large trees were uprooted when the bank slid into the river.
Because the event took place before seismological instrumentation, estimates of its location and size must come from observations of the damage and effects caused by the earthquake. Most of what we know of the event and the resulting damage comes from a comprehensive report by C.E. Dutton of the U.S. Geological Survey published in 1889. The area of maximum damage of the 1886 earthquake is an elliptical area roughly 20 by 30 miles, trending northeast between Charleston and Jedburg and including Summerville, and roughly centered at Middleton Place.
The 1886 earthquake was followed by a series of aftershocks. Of the 435 or more earthquakes reported to have taken place in South Carolina between 1754 and 1975, more than 300 were aftershocks that occurred in the first 35 years following 1886. The 1886 earthquake and its aftershocks dominate the seismic record of the southeast. The historic record suggest the Charleston-Summerville area had a continuum of low level seimicity prior to 1886, and a low-level activity continues in the same area today
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