GREENWOOD, S.C. (WNCN) — A South Carolina county among those hit by flooding and winds from Hurricane Helene has been rattled by a series of small earthquakes on Sunday — including two Sunday afternoon that brought the total to eight in just one day.
Friday was the first full day the state of emergency was lifted after Helene hit Greenwood County, where at least one person died and there was major damage from the storm before it moved into the North Carolina mountains.
Hot meals are still being served to residents in Greenwood County who are dealing with Helene’s destruction.
Nine total earthquakes — eight of which hit Sunday — were mainly near Coronaca with the largest being 2.5 magnitude on Sunday morning.
Dozens of people felt the quakes and many took to social media to say they felt the rumbling Sunday in Greenwood County. But, no damage was reported.
The latest one Sunday morning hit around 10:10 a.m. with many reporting they felt just that quake.
“My entire house shook at 10:10!” Jamie Ward Hyde wrote on the Greenwood County Sheriff’s Office Facebook page.
After the group of six quakes Sunday morning, a 2.1 magnitude quake rattled 2.8 miles from Coronaca around 2:40 p.m. Sunday — making it the seventh quake on Sunday.
Then, the eighth Sunday incident happened at 3:15 p.m. when a 1.5 magnitude quake struck 2.5 miles south-southeast of Coronaca.
“Felt strongly in the Lakeshore area. Hwy 221 at the bridge,” wrote Kimberly Breland on Facebook, adding that she felt four of the Sunday quakes.
The quakes were also all a few miles north of Greenwood, the county seat of Greenwood County, according to the U.S. Geological Survey.
One quake on Sunday was 1.8 miles from Cokesbury. A 2.2 magnitude earthquake on Thursday was the first of the group.
In Greenwood County, about 315 homes were damaged by Helene and about 12,000 residents have already applied for assistance from FEMA.
A man died in Greenwood County when a tree knocked over during Helene sliced into his home, according to officials.