2 Crustal Structure, Tectonics, and Geologic Evolution of the Southeastern U.S. I

Thursday, 31 March 2016
8:00 AM - 12:00 PM
Richland A

SEISMOTECTONICS OF POTENTIAL SEISMIC HAZARDS IN THE SOUTH CAROLINA COASTAL PLAIN

Paper number: 2-2
Program: Theme Sessions
Time: 8:10 AM – 8:30 AM

Authors

Abstract

Evaluating seismic hazard in South Carolina poses difficulties due to the long recurrence intervals between major intraplate earthquakes compared to the relatively short written historical record. The ~7 Mw 1886 Charleston, SC earthquake is the only large magnitude earthquake in South Carolina’s recorded history; however paleoseismological studies of sandblows in the Coastal Plain suggest at least six earthquakes in the Holocene with large enough magnitudes to cause these liquefaction features. The potential for offshore hazards was highlighted by the 2002 4.4 M earthquake 25 km offshore Seabrook Island, SC and may indicate active seismicity on the Helena Banks Fault, an extensive Mesozoic age fault zone offshore the South Carolina coast. Identifying the seismotectonic structure at the epicenter of the 1886 earthquake, the Helena Banks Fault, and other locations experiencing present day seismicity may assist in locating other areas of seismic hazard.

Geological Society of America Abstracts with Programs. Vol. 48, No. 3

doi: 10.1130/abs/2016SE-273158

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