Earthquake bolts are iron rods run through the brick walls of a building and fastened on the outside with a large washer and nut, often hidden under a cast-iron cap shaped like a star, a cross, an S or a lion's head. After the earthquake of 31 August 1886, repair crews threaded them through hundreds of damaged Charleston buildings to tie walls to floors. The house at 20 Glebe Street, on the College of Charleston campus, carries a typical set: a 2013 study of the city's quake-damaged brick buildings by Steven Jaumé, Krystle Miner and Craig Bennett shows it as an example of post-earthquake bolt repair. The shock struck at 9:51 p.m. The U.S. Geological Survey counts 60 dead and property damage of 5 to 6 million dollars, and says hardly a structure in the old city escaped damage.
The South Carolina Encyclopedia puts the toll at 83 in Charleston alone. Jaumé and his colleagues cite an 1886 insurance report describing damage to more than 6,000 buildings, about 1,800 of them unreinforced brick, and two thirds of the city's 60,000 people left temporarily homeless. It was one of the first American earthquakes to be studied systematically, in Clarence Dutton's report for the Geological Survey.
The rods were not new in 1886. Builders already used them, mainly against gales and hurricanes. The 2013 study found that closely spaced plates held brick walls together during the quake, and its authors still favour them in repairs.
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