Orangeburg Micro Area Natural Disasters and Weather Extremes
The chance of earthquake damage in Orangeburg Area is about the same as South Carolina average and is lower than the national average. The risk of tornado damage in Orangeburg Area is about the same as South Carolina average and is about the same as the national average.
Earthquake Index, #172
| Orangeburg Area | 0.43 |
| South Carolina | 0.49 |
| U.S. | 1.81 |
The earthquake index value is calculated based on historical earthquake events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the earthquake level in a region. A higher earthquake index value means a higher chance of an earthquake.
Volcano Index, #129
| Orangeburg Area | 0.0000 |
| South Carolina | 0.0000 |
| U.S. | 0.0023 |
The volcano index value is calculated based on the currently known volcanoes using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the possibility of a region being affected by a possible volcano eruption. A higher volcano index value means a higher chance of being affected.
Tornado Index, #474
| Orangeburg Area | 145.25 |
| South Carolina | 136.91 |
| U.S. | 136.45 |
The tornado index value is calculated based on historical tornado events data using USA.com algorithms. It is an indicator of the tornado level in a region. A higher tornado index value means a higher chance of tornado events.
Other Weather Extremes Events
A total of 11,353 other weather extremes events within 50 miles of Orangeburg Area were recorded from 1950 to 2010. The following is a break down of these events:
| Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count | Type | Count |
| Avalanche: | 0 | Blizzard: | 0 | Cold: | 24 | Dense Fog: | 6 | Drought: | 100 |
| Dust Storm: | 0 | Flood: | 581 | Hail: | 3,322 | Heat: | 33 | Heavy Snow: | 29 |
| High Surf: | 7 | Hurricane: | 11 | Ice Storm: | 30 | Landslide: | 0 | Strong Wind: | 70 |
| Thunderstorm Winds: | 6,573 | Tropical Storm: | 32 | Wildfire: | 3 | Winter Storm: | 42 | Winter Weather: | 28 |
| Other: | 462 | ||||||||
Volcanos Nearby
No volcano is found in or near Orangeburg Area.
Historical Earthquake Events
A total of 2 historical earthquake events that had recorded magnitudes of 3.5 or above found in or near Orangeburg Area.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Depth (km) | Latitude | Longitude |
| 23.6 | 1972-02-03 | 4.5 | 5 | 33.5 | -80.4 |
| 6.4 | 1967-10-23 | 3.8 | N/A | 33.4 | -80.7 |
Historical Tornado Events
A total of 36 historical tornado events that had recorded magnitude of 2 or above found in or near Orangeburg Area.
| Distance (miles) | Date | Magnitude | Start Lat/Log | End Lat/Log | Length | Width | Fatalities | Injuries | Property Damage | Crop Damage | Affected County |
| 9.5 | 1983-04-23 | 3 | 33°19'N / 80°56'W | 33°20'N / 80°52'W | 4.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Orangeburg |
| 10.2 | 1990-10-22 | 2 | 33°35'N / 80°47'W | 0.10 Mile | 20 Yards | 1 | 4 | 250K | 0 | Calhoun | |
| 10.2 | 2004-12-10 | 3 | 33°34'N / 80°50'W | 33°36'N / 80°49'W | 1.50 Miles | 80 Yards | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Orangeburg |
| Brief Description: Damage survey found an F3 tornado demolished a brick church, completely destroyed 2 mobile homes and several outbuildings. The main damage occurred on Coulter road. | |||||||||||
| 14.2 | 2008-03-15 | 3 | 33°14'N / 80°51'W | 33°14'N / 80°41'W | 10.00 Miles | 1320 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0K | Orangeburg |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: Extensive damage in Branchville. One home was destroyed and 16 had other moderate to major damage. One mobile home was destroyed and a half dozen had moderate to major damage. Seven buildings in downtown were destroyed, including a couple of 3 layer deep brick buildings. Thirteen others had major damage and 5 had minor damage. Amazingly there were no injuries or deaths. EPISODE NARRATIVE: Seven supercells tracked across our South Carolina County Warning Area and produced many long-lived tornadoes that did significant damage. Over 85 homes were destroyed, around 400 had moderate damage, and estimates for the total devastation were around 40 million dollars. | |||||||||||
| 14.3 | 1976-05-15 | 2 | 33°28'N / 81°02'W | 33°31'N / 81°03'W | 3.80 Miles | 40 Yards | 0 | 3 | 250K | 0 | Orangeburg |
| 14.8 | 2004-12-10 | 2 | 33°39'N / 80°47'W | 33°39'N / 80°47'W | 0.50 Mile | 60 Yards | 0 | 1 | 0 | 0 | Calhoun |
| Brief Description: Damage survey found an F2 tornado tore most of the concrete roof off a warehouse and damaged several vehicles and other outbuildings. | |||||||||||
| 15.5 | 1958-04-22 | 2 | 33°35'N / 80°39'W | 33°36'N / 80°34'W | 5.10 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Calhoun |
| 17.0 | 1998-03-08 | 2 | 33°32'N / 81°05'W | 33°32'N / 81°04'W | 1.30 Miles | 75 Yards | 0 | 0 | 80K | 0 | Orangeburg |
| Brief Description: An F2 tornado tracked along highway 4 near Pine Hill. It picked up 2 mobile homes, took them 35 ft into the air, and brought them down on top of a 35 ft by 75 ft cinder block building 30 yards away completely destroying the mobile homes and the building. Other damage was done to a couple other mobile and permanent homes, and also to a church roof. A second 12 ft by 24 ft cinder block building was also demolished. | |||||||||||
| 19.2 | 1983-04-23 | 3 | 33°14'N / 81°13'W | 33°19'N / 80°56'W | 16.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 4 | 2.5M | 0 | Bamberg |
| 21.1 | 1978-07-25 | 2 | 33°34'N / 81°08'W | 0.10 Mile | 10 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Orangeburg | |
| 21.8 | 1998-03-08 | 2 | 33°23'N / 80°27'W | 33°27'N / 80°24'W | 5.00 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 220K | 0 | Orangeburg |
| Brief Description: An F2 tornado did major damage to a horse farm and race track. Several of the horses were injured. Debris from the horse farm was found as far as 3 miles away. Major damage was also done to a home and a couple of mobile homes. Minor damage was also done to a couple of mobile and permanent homes. | |||||||||||
| 23.1 | 1958-04-22 | 2 | 33°36'N / 80°34'W | 33°37'N / 80°21'W | 12.60 Miles | 100 Yards | 1 | 1 | 25K | 0 | Clarendon |
| 28.0 | 1963-09-28 | 2 | 33°30'N / 81°17'W | 0.50 Mile | 100 Yards | 0 | 1 | 25K | 0 | Orangeburg | |
| 28.7 | 2004-09-07 | 2 | 33°50'N / 80°45'W | 33°52'N / 80°47'W | 2.50 Miles | 440 Yards | 0 | 3 | 100K | 0 | Richland |
| Brief Description: NWS survey found 3 mobile destroyed, several others damaged along with a couple of businesses. Three people were injured. Numerous trees and powerlines down. | |||||||||||
| 31.8 | 1999-04-15 | 2 | 33°07'N / 81°13'W | 33°07'N / 81°11'W | 3.00 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2K | 20K | Allendale |
| Brief Description: An F2 tornado destroyed 20 acres of watermelons and rolled over a large tractor several times. Numerous trees and powerlines were down along the track. | |||||||||||
| 32.3 | 1978-05-04 | 2 | 33°26'N / 80°29'W | 33°40'N / 80°02'W | 30.50 Miles | 150 Yards | 0 | 1 | 250K | 0 | Clarendon |
| 32.5 | 1997-07-23 | 2 | 33°51'N / 81°03'W | 33°53'N / 81°01'W | 3.50 Miles | 200 Yards | 1 | 6 | 917K | 25K | Lexington |
| Brief Description: An F2 tornado producing winds to 150 mph killed a 32 year old female and injured 6 others. Two homes were destroyed and 9 others had major damage. Two apartements were destroyed (duplex). Seven mobile homes were destroyed and 94 had minor damage. Numerous trees were down and two crop fields had areas of destroyed crops. F32PH | |||||||||||
| 33.2 | 1967-05-29 | 2 | 33°55'N / 80°50'W | 0.50 Mile | 20 Yards | 0 | 3 | 25K | 0 | Richland | |
| 34.3 | 1975-02-18 | 2 | 33°22'N / 81°25'W | 33°22'N / 81°22'W | 3.30 Miles | 67 Yards | 0 | 5 | 250K | 0 | Barnwell |
| 34.4 | 1989-05-01 | 2 | 33°24'N / 81°26'W | 33°30'N / 81°22'W | 4.00 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 12 | 2.5M | 0 | Barnwell |
| 34.4 | 1987-08-31 | 2 | 33°56'N / 80°51'W | 0.20 Mile | 10 Yards | 0 | 2 | 250K | 0 | Richland | |
| 34.7 | 1983-04-23 | 3 | 33°10'N / 81°27'W | 33°14'N / 81°13'W | 13.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 2 | 2.5M | 0 | Barnwell |
| 34.7 | 1988-08-28 | 2 | 33°40'N / 80°16'W | 0.80 Mile | 200 Yards | 1 | 1 | 2.5M | 0 | Clarendon | |
| 39.0 | 2007-04-15 | 3 | 33°47'N / 80°30'W | 33°58'N / 80°15'W | 19.00 Miles | 300 Yards | 1 | 5 | 0K | 0K | Sumter |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: An EF3 tornado traveled from southwest to northeast of Sumter destroying a seven mobile homes, severely damaging nine framed homes, and doing light to moderate damage to an additional 62 mobile and framed homes. There was 1 fatality and 3 injuries. The tornado touched down as an EF1 and ended as an EF3 where the fatality occurred at a mobile home on hwy 76. EPISODE NARRATIVE: A cold front with strong dynamics and windshear pushed into the area late Saturday and early Sunday. Hail and microbursts accompanied the first wave of storms while the second wave of storms produced a half dozen tornadoes. The largest was an EF3 that killed on person and injured 3 others. | |||||||||||
| 40.1 | 2004-09-07 | 2 | 33°53'N / 80°23'W | 33°55'N / 80°23'W | 4.00 Miles | 500 Yards | 0 | 3 | 1.7M | 0 | Sumter |
| Brief Description: Emergency manager reported 55 homes damaged, 9 destroyed, and 3 injuries. | |||||||||||
| 40.8 | 1975-11-12 | 2 | 34°00'N / 81°01'W | 2.00 Miles | 50 Yards | 0 | 7 | 250K | 0 | Richland | |
| 41.1 | 1994-08-16 | 2 | 33°54'N / 81°15'W | 2.00 Miles | 25 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lexington | |
| Brief Description: Tornado demolished the north portion of a mini-warehouse complex near the SC602 and SC6 intersection. It moved northward and overturned three cars in Redbank, blew down trees and power lines. | |||||||||||
| 42.0 | 1994-08-16 | 3 | 33°55'N / 81°15'W | 0.30 Mile | 75 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | Lexington | |
| Brief Description: Tornado completely destroyed a square stick frame home. | |||||||||||
| 42.4 | 2009-04-10 | 2 | 33°06'N / 81°25'W | 6.00 Miles | 500 Yards | 0 | 0 | 1.0M | 0K | Allendale | |
| Brief Description: EVENT NARRATIVE: A National Weather Service Survey Team determined a tornado touched down along Roberts Road 3.5 miles northeast of Martin, South Carolina at 1230 AM local time Saturday morning and traveled 5.6 miles before lifting. Initially the tornado uprooted or snapped numerous trees with one tree falling on a mobile home and damaging the roof of the structure. The under-skirting of the mobile home was peeled back by the winds and a couple windows were blown out. Additionally, several cars sustained damage by falling trees outside of the mobile home. Another couple homes along Roberts Road received minor rood damage and a couple carports were slightly damaged as well. The tornado continued to nearly parallel Miller Creek Road downing numerous trees and power lines. The maximum width of the tornado was approximately 500 yards near the intersection of Camp Jackson Road and Miller Creek Road. The tornado lifted 2.3 miles south southeast of Kline, South Carolina just past the intersection of Appleton Road and Barnwell Highway /US Highway 278/ at 1239 AM local time, but not before damaging the roof and cinder-block walls of a home, downing numerous trees and completely destroying the historic Cave Methodist Church. The church was wiped completely off its foundation. Several grave stones surrounding the church were overturned or knocked down. An 18 wheel truck was overturned a couple hundred feet from the Cave Methodist Church with a tree falling on it and causing further damage. In total, 4 homes, 1 mobile home, 1 church and 5 vehicles received damage as a result of the tornado. In addition, hundreds of acres of timber was damaged or destroyed. The tornado did not result in any injuries or fatalities. The National Weather Service Damage Survey Team determined the strength of the tornado to be an EF2 on the Enhanced Fujita Scale with winds estimated between 120 and 130 miles per hour. EPISODE NARRATIVE: An area of low pressure and associated cold front pushed through the southeast where kinematic profiles and anomalously cold air aloft existed. This lead to the development of strong storms over Allendale county overnight on April 10, 2009. | |||||||||||
| 44.2 | 2000-09-22 | 2 | 33°05'N / 81°29'W | 33°05'N / 81°24'W | 4.50 Miles | 750 Yards | 1 | 5 | 290K | 0 | Allendale |
| Brief Description: Fatality occurred in a camper that was one of 10 other campers at a hunt club. The camper was the second one in the line and it appeared to have disintegrated. One of the other campers was turned on its side while the others remained upright, for the most part. Also, there were three mobile homes destroyed, major damage to two mobile homes, minor damage to six mobile homes and major damage to a frame home along with numerous trees down or snapped 10 to 15 feet above the ground. This tornado continued into Barnwell County in WFO Columbia's CWA. M68VE The two tornadoes that occurred in Allendale County were associated with the remnants of T.S. Helene as it moved across Georgia and South Carolina. Heavy rain developed across Berkeley County during the early morning hours of 9/22/00 and caused flooding over the northern half of the county, especially in and around Moncks Corner. The 42 year-old female was killed when she hit a puddle of water and hydroplaned. She hit a pine tree head on and was killed on impact. | |||||||||||
| 44.3 | 1976-05-15 | 2 | 34°02'N / 81°00'W | 34°05'N / 80°59'W | 3.80 Miles | 40 Yards | 1 | 3 | 250K | 0 | Richland |
| 46.2 | 1991-03-03 | 2 | 33°19'N / 81°37'W | 33°25'N / 81°35'W | 6.00 Miles | 300 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Aiken |
| 46.5 | 1989-10-01 | 2 | 33°09'N / 81°42'W | 33°15'N / 81°25'W | 16.50 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 2.5M | 0 | Barnwell |
| 48.2 | 1957-04-05 | 2 | 33°50'N / 81°32'W | 34°02'N / 81°15'W | 21.30 Miles | 40 Yards | 0 | 1 | 25K | 0 | Lexington |
| 48.2 | 1963-09-29 | 2 | 33°53'N / 80°13'W | 33°55'N / 80°08'W | 5.40 Miles | 100 Yards | 0 | 0 | 25K | 0 | Sumter |
| 48.4 | 1991-03-03 | 2 | 33°19'N / 81°38'W | 33°21'N / 81°38'W | 5.00 Miles | 200 Yards | 0 | 0 | 0K | 0 | Aiken |
* The information on this page is based on the global volcano database, the U.S. earthquake database of 1638-1985, and the U.S. Tornado and Weather Extremes database of 1950-2010.