Charleston earthquake – Pre-20th Century

The Charleston Earthquake of 1886 was the biggest quake to hit the Southeastern United States. It occurred at 9:50 p.m. on August 31, 1886. The earthquake caused severe damage in Charleston, South Carolina, damaging 2,000 buildings and causing $6 million value in damages, while in the entire city the buildings were only valued at approximately $24 million. Between 60 and 110 lives were lost.

Major damage occurred as far away as Tybee Island, Georgia (over 60 miles away) and structural injure was reported some hundred miles from Charleston (counting central Alabama, central Ohio, eastern Kentucky, southern Virginia, and western West Virginia). It was felt as far away as Boston to the North, Chicago and Milwaukee to the Northwest, as far West as New Orleans, as far South as Cuba, and also as far East as Bermuda