Students run through earthquake drill that S.C. experts say is necessary

Imagine the floor is moving beneath you. You can't stand up, or even stay still in your seat.

Your teacher yells, "Earthquake! Drop, cover and hold."

Students at H.E. McCracken Middle School and others across the state dove under their desks Wednesday morning during a earthquake drill, as part of South Carolina's annual Earthquake Awareness Week.

They took cover under classroom furniture -- keeping away from windows and glass -- and held on to the legs of desks and tables.

"It's really cramped," eighth-grader Madison Aust said from underneath her desk.

"It's messing up my hair," said her classmate, Tamyra Mitchell.

The S.C. Emergency Management Division, the S.C. Earthquake Education Center at the College of Charleston and the National Weather Service sponsor Earthquake Awareness Week to remind residents that earthquakes are a threat in South Carolina.

Derrec Becker, public information officer with the state Emergency Management Division, said 20 to 30 minor earthquakes are recorded in South Carolina each year, but people likely only notice about five of them.

Because earthquakes typically occur with little or no warning, students must be prepared, said Joseph Warfield, assistant principal at H.E. McCracken Middle School.

William Winn, Beaufort County's emergency management director, encourages all Beaufort County schools and day cares to participate in the drill.

"There's been earthquakes in South Carolina before," he said. "There's a potential in Beaufort."

One of the worst in the state occurred in Charleston in 1886. It measured7.3 on the Richter scale and killed more than 100 people and damaged or destroyed most of the buildings in Charleston and Summerville.

But the more immediate danger might be a smaller quake, a "moderate," California-like 5 magnitude.

In the Charleston area, such a quake could lead to billions of dollars in damage, injuries and a few deaths because the soil and subsurface is so soft. Without many fault lines which act as shock absorbers, temblors here travel farther.

"It might be worse than what you would expect," said Norm Levine, a College of Charleston associate geology professor. "Something normally considered moderate could do damage. We really do have an issue here. Let's see what we can do to protect against it."

The Charleston Post and Courier contributed to this report.