On April 14, 1994, at 1015 eastern daylight time, a Cessna 172M, N61990, landed hard on runway 4 at Barnwell County Airport at Barnwell, South Carolina. The personal flight operated under 14 CFR Part 91, with a visual flight plan filed. Visual weather conditions prevailed at the time of the accident. The airplane sustained substantial damage; the pilot and passenger were not injured. The flight departed Gastonia, North Carolina, at 0900 hours. Because of a personal urgency, the pilot diverted to an airport short of the destination airport. The pilot stated that the altitude and airspeeds were excessive for the landing. The airplane touch down hard, bounced and porpoised several times before she stopped the airplane on the runway. When the airplane was examined several days later, it was determined that in addition to the nose gear damage, the engine firewall was buckled. There were no aircraft problems reported by the pilot.