ABSTRACT
The Coastal Plain of South Carolina was the location of the largest historical earthquake along the East Coast of the USA. Due to the low level seismicity and thick sediment cover the location and nature of the causative fault is not well understood. By integrating current seismicity. river morphological, geomorphological, paleoseismic and geophysical data we have discovered an ~200 km long NNE-trending fault zone buried below the Coastal Plain of South Carolina. It lies along a zone of river anomalies and the Woodstock fault. Its length is adequate to generate the Mw 7.3, 1886 Charleston earthquake. Other corroborative data indicate that there has been tectonic activity on this fault for at least the last one million years. Currently the most scismically active part of this fault zone is its southern end where it intersects with the NW-trending Ashley River fault zone. The intersection provides a location for stress accumulation due to plate tectonic forces and pursuant seismicity.
