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
killer earthquakes. we ve seen them strike in california and haiti. there are some places in the u.s. you might not expect. cnn neertologist jacqui jeras joining us with more on that. the majority of earthquakes happen out west. some of the most powerful have actually happened in the midwest and the south, believe it or not. we ll take you to charleston, south carolina, where they could experience an earthquake similar in magnitude to the one that happened in haiti in january. it was the most catastrophic earthquake ever to hit any place east of the mississippi in all of u.s. history. struck charleston with a ferocious roar. reporter: author and researcher richard kotay describes the horror that filled the steamy charleston air on
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