Still no solid explanation for the shaky terrain in the South Carolina Midlands, where nearly forty earthquakes have been reported since the first of the year, the latest just after 12 AM Thursday.
The State Emergency Management Division reported a 2-point-four magnitude tremor near Lugoff at 12:23 AM. The same vicinity where the US Geological Survey detected two quakes of about the same intensity Wednesday night. One was just below 2.0 on the scale four miles southwest of Lugoff, shortly before 7:30 PM. That followed a more noticeable three-point-four tremor about two miles east of Elgin at three minutes past seven.
But the one that got the most attention Wednesday was the three-point-five magnitude quake at 2:43 Wednesday afternoon, the strongest measured in South Carolina since 2014. It was also centered several miles East of Elgin but it was felt by people, from West Columbia to Lake Murray, through Sumter County and just northwest of Aiken. It's suspected the tremblors recorded later in evening and early today were aftershocks from that one. No injuries or damage has been reported from the quakes, thus far.