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Well, residents of South Carolina have seen a noticeable uptick in seismic activity so
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far this year, with multiple earthquakes occurring near the Charleston and Low Country region
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Residents there are understandably curious about what is going on.
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Data from the US Geological Survey shows several small quakes clustered near Charleston
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and adjacent areas in February, you know, with magnitudes mostly between roughly 1.5 and
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One of the strongest this year, a magnitude 2.9 quake on the seventh was felt by many residents
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followed by a magnitude 2.5 event.
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The most recent quake happened on the 15th when a magnitude 2.0 was recorded near
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These episodes reflect a string of weak tremors, with nine small earthquakes detected in
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the area since January.
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Although these quakes are felt locally, they are too small to cause any major damage, unlike
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states on the west coast, where shaking is frequent due to plate boundaries.
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South Carolina's quakes happen within the interior of the North American tectonic plate.
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This makes them intraplate earthquakes, quakes that occur away from the plate edges.
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The state's crust contains ancient fault lines and geologic structures that formed hundreds
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of millions of years ago during mountain building and continental rifting.
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Many of these faults lie buried beneath sediments and aren't visible at the surface.
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Stress slowly builds in the earth's crust over long periods due to tectonic forces,
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and this stress is released along these older faults, rock breaks, and shifts producing
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Almost 70% of South Carolina's earthquakes occur in the coastal plain, especially around
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zones like Ravenel, Hollywood, Middleton, Place, Somerville, and Bowman.
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Size-missity in South Carolina is not a new thing.
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In fact, the 1886 Charleston earthquake estimated between magnitude 7.0 and 7.3 was one of
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the strongest in eastern US history and caused widespread destruction.
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While such large events are rare, they show that the region's ancient faults can produce
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Well, a lot of the focus this week has been on the snowstorm that blanketed the northeast
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under feet of snow, and rightly so, but Florida's weather is now coming into focus this week
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as sweeping changes are on the way there.
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Florida's near-record heat has been swapped by much colder air that moved in this weekend,
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an ongoing lack of rain, some wind, and dry brush will raise the risk of wildfires once
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Orlando, Jacksonville, and other communities across Northern Florida were close to record
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highs on Saturday with temperatures climbing well into the 80s.
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The spotty showers trailing the cold front across Central and Southern Florida this past
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weekend did little to ease the dry conditions there.
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Behind the front, gusty northwest winds ushered in a big cool down and quickly dried out
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any dampened brush once again.
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The coldest stretch in the front's wake will occur this morning as temperatures will dip
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below freezing from north of Orlando into the Florida Panhandle.
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A light frost is not expected to impact the citrus crop though, and the coldest spots
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in the early morning acue weather real-field temperatures could dip into the 20s.
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Dry northwest winds allowed a fire threat to expand across much of Southern Florida.
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To start out the week, the elevated fire risk came less than a week after a brush fire
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destroyed a plant nursery in Kassemi, Florida.
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The use of open flames, power equipment, or anything that might produce sparks or burning
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embers, is being strongly discouraged this week, an intensifying drought is exacerbating
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The second highest drought category extreme drought has expanded by 62% across Florida
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over the past month.
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Through February 19th, Jacksonville is experiencing its 18th driest start to the year-on-record
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with 1.75 inches of rain while Orlando is having the 13th driest start with 1.14 inches.
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Meanwhile, more than 60% of Louisiana and 23% of Mississippi are in a drought.
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The Keach Byram drought index, a key indicator of wildfire potential, is high across most
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of the state and in the very high to extreme category across Southern Florida.
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The winds will relax by Tuesday, easing the fire threat a bit, but the humidity will
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remain low, so extra care should still be exercised.
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Wednesday will be somewhat more humid, which should significantly reduce the fire risk.
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However, meaningful rain is not expected until later on this week, or possibly the weekend
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allowing the drought to continue full throttle.
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The fire risk is not expected to ease anytime soon.
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A higher-than-average brush fire risk is expected in Florida throughout this spring, according
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to AccuWeather's long-range team of meteorologists.
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You can find more regional forecasts and science-based articles at AccuWeather.com and for your local
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forecast at your fingertips, download the AccuWeather app.
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Enjoy the rest of your day.
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I'll be back tomorrow with more from AccuWeather.