Southeastern South Korea Hit by Magnitude 4.5 Earthquake
On Monday, the weather agency announced that a magnitude 4.5 earthquake hit near Gyeongju in the southeastern part of South Korea. The said earthquake occurred a week after two strong quakes struck the same city.
Yonhap News Agency reported that the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) confirmed that the quake took place at 8:33 p.m. and the epicenter is observed some 11 kilometers south of Gyeongju city. The KMA also stated that the latest earthquake was an aftershock of the two earthquakes on September 12. The previous quakes recorded magnitudes 5.8 and 5.1, respectively. The magnitude 5.8 earthquake is considered the strongest seism detected by the KMA in the Korean Peninsula since 1978.
The Ministry of Public Safety and Security declared that the emergency centers in Daegu, Ulsan, and North Gyeongsang Province reported a total of 11 reports of damage. Firefighters were dispatched to the areas which reportedly had damage for on-site inspections.
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo Ahn asked officials to verify the extent of the damage from the aftershock and give real-time details to the public. He also advised authorities to "maintain an emergency readiness posture and be thoroughly prepared" to deal with the situation following the newest aftershock.
In the country's largest port in the south part of Gyeongju, fire stations received thousands of reports related to the earthquake while some residents in Seoul said they felt a tremor.
The KMA also reported that the recent quake was the strongest aftershock among an approximate of 300 tremors known since September 12.
KakaoTalk reported no service disruption, unlike what happened last week when the mobile messenger app was down for several minutes after the two earthquakes.
Several subway lines in Busan stopped for almost one minute but quickly resumed operation and some high-speed KTX trains operated at slower speeds as a precautionary measure.
Local TV stations also showed video footages of Gyeongju, Daegu, and Busan residents rushing out of their apartments due to the tremor.
