Nodal Deployment for the Elgin-Lugoff South Carolina earthquake swarm

This RAPID project involves a seismic deployment of 85 Smartsolo 5Hz nodes to the epicenter region of the ongoing Elgin-Lugoff earthquake swarm sequence in South Carolina. This prolonged earthquake swarm sequence started on December 27, 2021, beginning with a magnitude 3.3 earthquake. More than 80 microearthquakes have been located in this region, with the largest magnitude of 3.6 occurring on June 29, 2022. This swarm sequence was widely felt in the broader region of the Midlands of SC, and offers a rare opportunity to study physical mechanisms of earthquake swarms in intraplate regions. In October 2022, 85 nodes were deployed in a 7 km x 7 km area right on top of the swarm sequence, with one site co-located with a broadband seismometer JKYD. This deployment aims to capture near-field observations of the sequence in high definition for up to 4 months. The data collected from this deployment can be used to detect additional smaller earthquakes not listed in the existing catalog, and the relocated catalog can reveal spatial-time evolution of the swarm and underlying forces driving this swarm. Data will be made available through the IRIS Data Management Center.