SC or CA, SC or CA? Hmm...

A friend of mine from Charleston South Carolina asked me recently whether she should buy some farm property in California. She was worried about living in an earthquake zone.

I spoke to her for a bit about simply being prepared for hazards, etc. but what I should have recalled is that Charleston itself is an earthquake zone. In fact, the August 31, 1886 Charleston earthquake is the largest historical earthquakes on the East coast, and was felt as far away as Toronto and Cuba. It's estimated that it was somewhere between 7.3 and 7.6 in magnitude. Here's a historic photo of some of the damage on Tradd Street in Charleston:



What I should have done was guided her to some of the Geological Survey resources:

Earthquake Hazards 101
Earthquake Probability Map Tool