CHARLOTTE, N.C. — A powerful 7.8 magnitude earthquake rocked Turkey and neighboring Syria Monday. More than 2,700 people have been killed.
About 20,000 earthquakes occur annually around the globe, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
That’s approximately 55 earthquakes per day worldwide. Despite the history of deadly earthquakes in the Carolinas, the risk of quakes is low.
“A number of old fault zones here," Del Bohnenstiehl, a North Carolina State University professor of earth science, explained. "We call it plate boundary hundreds of millions of years ago. And so, there are some relic fault zones from that can get reactivated from time to time.”
Unlike a pair of powerful earthquakes in Turkey overnight, most earthquakes in the Carolinas are never strong enough to be felt.
Bohnenstiehl said earthquakes are uncommon in both South Carolina and North Carolina.
“We’re not on what we would call a plate boundary. Think of the out parts of the earth on a ridge of blocks, and some places are rubbing past each other. We’re sort of in the middle of a block here,” Bohnenstiehl said.
On average, there are between ten and 20 earthquakes in South Carolina a year. Last year, the number climbed to over 80.
“It’s not impossible we could have a big earthquake. But nowhere near the hazards, you have out in California for example: where North America and the Pacific plate are moving passed one another," Bohnenstiehl said. "Or what we’ve had in Turkey, basically, a chunk that’s called Arabian that is moving up into Eurasia. So that’s what’s pushing an entire block of Turkey out to the west."
A closer look at the magnitude scale shows magnitude 8.0 or greater earthquakes are rare and only happen once or twice per year.
The pair in Turkey falls under 7.0 to 7.9. Worldwide. this magnitude could occur 10-15 times per year.
Most of the earthquakes recorded in the Carolinas are 2.5 or less. Although there was a magnitude 5.1 quake in Sparta in 2020 – and an estimated magnitude 7 earthquake in Charleston in 1886.
Contact KJ Jacobs at kjacobs3@wcnc.com and follow him on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.
