At 9:45 p.m. on August 31, 1886, a major earthquake struck Charleston. There were 27 people killed in the collapse of buildings, and another 33 died later of injuries. Buildings were destroyed, roads became impassable, and great "sinkholes" opened up in the sandy earth as far as 50 miles inland. The damage to the city was estimated at nearly $6 million.
Courtesy of the National Archives and Records Administration.
