reporter: it was a most catastrophic earthquake ever to hit anyplace east of the mississippi, in all of u.s. history. struck charleston with a ferocious roar. reporter: author and researcher richard describes the horror that filled the steamy charleston air on august 31st, 1886. an estimated 7.3 magnitude earthquake devastated this charming southern city. two-thirds of all the brick structures in charleston were either destroyed or severely damaged. reporter: and it was felt from montreal to nebraska, cuba to bermuda. so this is the church building. this was severely damaged in the earthquake. this is one of the most magnificent churches in charleston. the entire bell tower separated with a huge crack through the side of the building. reporter: amazingly the church was put back together with earthquake bolts, as were many other buildings in town. so these are the earthquake
august 31st, 1886. an estimated 7.3 magnitude quake devastated this charming southern city. two-thirds of all the brick structures in charleston were either destroyed or severely damaged. reporter: and it was felt from montreal to nebraska, cuba to bermuda. so this is the church building. and this was severely damaged in the earthquake? this was one of the most magnificent churches. the entire bell tower separated with a huge crack through the side of the building. reporter: amazingly, the building was put back together with earthquake bolts. these are charleston s legendary earthquake bolts. what you see is not actually the earthquake bolt itself. that s the long iron rod that runs all the way through the buildings. what we are going to see at the fort? we re going to be seeing the effects of the earthquake.
of u.s. history. struck charleston with a ferocious roar. reporter: author and researcher describes the horror that filled the steamy charleston air on august 31st, 1886. estimated 7.3 magnitude earthquake devastated this charming southern city. two-thirds of all the brick structures in charleston were either destroyed or severely damaged. reporter: and it was felt from montreal to nebraska, cuba to bermuda. this is the church building. this was severely damaged in the earthquake. this is one of the most magnificent churches in charleston. st. michaels episcopal church. the bell tower separate with a huge crack through the side of the building. reporter: amazingly the church was put back together with earth quake bolts as were many other buildings in town. so these are the earthquake bolts? these are charleston s legendary earthquake bolts. what you see on the side of the building is not the earth quake