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USGS · 70014601

EVIDENCE FOR THREE MODERATE TO LARGE PREHISTORIC HOLOCENE EARTHQUAKES NEAR CHARLESTON, S. C.

Robert E. Weems·Stephen F. Obermeier·Milan J. Pavich·Gregory S. Gohn·Meyer Rubin·Richard L. Phipps·Robert B. Jacobson
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Abstract

Earthquake-induced liquefaction features (sand blows), found near Hollywood, S. C. , have yielded abundant clasts of humate-impregnated sand and sparse pieces of wood. Radiocarbon ages for the humate and wood provide sufficient control on the timing of the earthquakes that produced the sand blows to indicate that at least three prehistoric liquefaction-producing earthquakes (m//b approximately 5. 5 or larger) have occurred within the last 7,200 years. The youngest documented prehistoric earthquake occurred around 800 A. D. A few fractures filled with virtually unweathered sand, but no large sand blows, can be assigned confidently to the historic 1886 Charleston earthquake.

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Robert E. Weems, Stephen F. Obermeier, Milan J. Pavich, Gregory S. Gohn, Meyer Rubin, Richard L. Phipps, Robert B. Jacobson. 1986. EVIDENCE FOR THREE MODERATE TO LARGE PREHISTORIC HOLOCENE EARTHQUAKES NEAR CHARLESTON, S. C.. https://pubs.usgs.gov/publication/70014601

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