[en] Although the average strain rate in intraplate settings is 2--3 orders of magnitude lower than at plate boundaries, there are pockets of high strain rates within intraplate regions. The results of a Global Positioning System survey near the location of current seismicity (and the inferred location of the destructive 1886 Charleston, South Carolina earthquake) suggest that there is anomalous strain build-up occurring there. By reoccupying 1930 triangulation and 1980 GPS sites with six Trimble SST dual frequency receivers, a strain rate of 0.4 x 10^-7 yr^-1 was observed. At the 95% confidence level, this value is not significant; however, at a lower level of confidence (∼ 85%) it is about two orders of magnitude greater than the background of 10^-9 to 10^-10 yr^-1. The direction of contraction inferred from the GPS survey 66 degree ± 11 degree is in excellent agreement with the direction of the maximum horizontal stress (N 60 degree E) in the area, suggesting that the observed strain rate is also real. 66 refs