Tag: earthquakes

This is a pretty large quake for South Korea:

An official at the Korea Meteorological Administration points to the location near Buan County, North Jeolla Province, where a 4.8-magnitude earthquake struck on Wednesday morning, on a map displayed at the administration in Seoul. Yonhap

A 4.8-magnitude earthquake struck an area near the southwestern county of Buan, North Jeolla Province, on Wednesday morning, marking the strongest tremor to be detected on the Korean Peninsula and its surrounding waters so far this year.

Usually, North Jeolla Province seldom experiences earthquakes, and it was the first time that a quake with a magnitude of more than 4 has occurred in the region.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), the epicenter of the quake was detected 4 kilometers south-southwest of Buan at 8:26 a.m., with a latitude of 35.7 degrees north, a longitude of 126.71 degrees east, and a depth of 8 kilometers.

Korea Times

You can read more at the link.

Fortunately this was just another small quake because I would hate to see what would happen if a massive quake ever hit the Korean peninsula:

A four-point-one magnitude earthquake struck off the southeastern city of Pohang on Sunday.

The Korea Meteorological Administration said that the quake took place at 12:53 p.m. in waters 50 kilometers east-northeast of the port city at a depth of 21 kilometers.

The KMA had earlier announced the quake’s magnitude was four but later revised it.

A KMA official said that it is a quake-prone region, but the magnitude is larger than usual, adding there have been no reports of damage received so far as the location is about 50 kilometers off the coast.

KBS World Radio

You can read more at the link.

Sand fills a paddy in the quake-ridden southeastern port city of Pohang, a clear sign of liquefaction, on Dec. 1, 2017. Earlier in the day, the National Disaster and Safety Management Control headquarters announced that the phenomenon has been confirmed, albeit not serious, in the region hit by a 5.4 magnitude earthquake on Nov. 15. (Yonhap)

The usual caveats apply when it comes to these unnamed sources out of North Korea because it is so hard to independently verify what they are saying.  This source could just be telling a journalist looking for a click bait headline what they want to hear:

An artificial earthquake caused by a North Korean nuclear test in September reportedly caused buildings to collapse and killed scores of people, including schoolchildren, South Korean media reported this week.

On Sept. 3, North Korea conducted its sixth nuclear test, successfully detonating a hydrogen bomb — one that could fit onto an intercontinental missile (ICBM).

The blast produced two shallow earthquakes in the Punggye-ri region, where North Korea’s nuclear test facility is located, U.S. and Chinese government seismologists reported at the time. Authorities in Japan, South Korea and numerous nongovernment experts in the United States confirmed that the earthquakes were likely the result of a nuclear test.

An unnamed source, who recently visited a village about 8 kilometers from Punggye-ri, described the damage to the South and North Development (SAND), a research institute that works with defectors from the North, according to the South Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo.

The source said houses and a school collapsed in the village of Sindong-ri and that dozens of people were killed and injured, the paper reported.

“September 3 was a Sunday, but some 150 students were waiting in their classrooms to do some work,” the source said, according to Chosun Ilbo. “Casualties occurred when half of the school building crumbled.”  [Voice of America]

You can read more at the link, but if this is true the team at 38 North who analyze commercial satellite imagery should be able to confirm if there has been collapsed buildings in the days after the nuclear test. So far I have seen no reports from them confirming damaged buildings after the earthquake in North Korea.

I have always felt that if a major earthquake struck South Korea it would be devastating and this 5.4 magnitude quake hopefully serves as a wake up call to improve building standards in the country:

A series of powerful earthquakes struck the southeastern city of Pohang, Wednesday, shaking many parts of the country, including Seoul nearly 300 kilometers away.

The first major quake ― 5.4 in magnitude ― struck Pohang at 2:29 p. m. , the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said. The epicenter was measured about nine kilometers north of Pohang and nine kilometers beneath the surface.

The quake was followed by aftershocks of lesser intensity, including a 3.6-magnitude one at 3:09 p.m. When a 4.6-magnitude quake occurred 8 kilometers north of the city at 4:49 p.m. , residents across South Gyeongsang Province feared whether the tremors had yet to end. Fire departments in Changwon city 130 kilometers away from Pohang received dozens of calls from worried citizens.

Nuclear reactors in Ulsan, some 80 kilometers south of Pohang, operated normally with no sign of radiation leaks, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power said.  [Korea Times]

You can read more at the link.

Rare earthquake in South Korea, just offshore near the city of Ulsan. Magnitude 4.8. No immediate reports of damage. pic.twitter.com/wp9pOLf0RE

— Alastair Gale (@AlastairGale) July 5, 2016

I would hate to think what would happen in South Korea and especially North Korea if the peninsula was ever hit by a major earthquake because of the amount of buildings that appear would not withstand a strong earthquake:

Domestic earthquake experts have warned that the recent quakes in Japan will likely cause a tremor with a magnitude of five to five-point-five on the Korean Peninsula within several years.

Director Chi Heon-Cheol of the Earthquake Research Center under the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources on Monday presented the projection, citing that Kumamoto Prefecture hit by the recent quakes and the Korean Peninsula are located on the same tectonic plate.

Professor Hong Tae-kyung at the Department of Earth System Sciences at Yonsei University also warned that the peninsula could come under additional pressure if strong earthquakes occur around it. He said that South Korea cannot be certain of safety from quakes.

Hong said that when a strong quake occurs, its aftershocks can continue for five to eight years, increasing the number of quakes.   [KBS World Radio]

NHK: 11 killed in latest of series of #KumamotoQuakes. #VOAalert #Japan pic.twitter.com/k1EKZibSXX

— Steve Herman (@W7VOA) April 16, 2016