BIRMINGHAM, Ala. — A small earthquake rumbled through parts of Alabama, Thursday.
The tremor was a 2.9 magnitude, according to data from the US Geological Survey, and shook about 3 miles north of Berry, Alabama just outside of Birmingham. It was recorded at 12:15 p.m. CT at a depth of 1.3 km.
Seismic data from the University of Memphis, who contributes to the USGS, also recorded another small tremor in South Carolina, along the Georgia border. It was measured to be a 2.0 magnitude and was recorded around 10 a.m. about 17 miles northeast of Hiltonia, Georgia.
While earthquakes in the eastern United States are rare, they do happen, and often impact a much larger area than quakes on the West coast thanks to the more mature rock formations of the East coast versus those out west.
According to the USGS, there have been several historic earthquakes on the east coast. In November of 1755, an earthquake with an estimated magnitude of 6.0 hit about 50 miles northeast of Boston, causing heavy damage.
Other strong earthquakes recorded in the continental US were centered in southeastern Missouri near the border with Arkansas, Kentucky and Tennessee. A series of three quakes in Missouri in 1811 and 1812 was so powerful that it changed the course of the Mississippi River.
And in August of 1886, a strong earthquake occurred in Charleston, South Carolina with a magnitude estimated at 6.8 to 7.2. Much of the city of Charleston was damaged or destroyed.
RELATED HEADLINES