2023-04-25 11:05:02
◀ Anchor ▶
Large and small earthquakes have been occurring one following another in the offing of Donghae City, Gangwon Province, for two days.
Earthquakes of magnitudes 3.5 and 3.1 occurred today.
Due to the ongoing earthquake, the government has issued an earthquake crisis alert level of ‘attention’.
Reporter Hyun In-ah investigated what might be the cause of such a series of earthquakes and whether there is any possibility of a larger earthquake.
◀ Report ▶
At around 3:55 pm, an earthquake of magnitude 3.5 occurred in the sea area 50km northeast of Donghae-si, Gangwon-do.
At 12:02 noon, a magnitude 3.1 earthquake occurred in the immediate vicinity.
There are more than 20 places where earthquakes have occurred in Korea for three consecutive days from Sunday.
Most of them were concentrated in the East Sea.
It is estimated that the seafloor fault zone caused continuous earthquakes in the East Sea.
These are the Hupo fault and the Ulleung fault among the seafloor faults in the East Sea.
Experts analyze that this earthquake may have been related to these faults.
Some of the faults are assumed to be living faults, that is, active faults that can cause earthquakes at any time.
[김광희/부산대 지질환경과학과 교수]
″It is said that there is a fault that can cause these earthquakes on the sea floor, but fault investigations have not been conducted properly in the sea area yet.″
An earthquake of magnitude 4.3 in 2019 and magnitude 4.2 in 1996 occurred in the nearby waters.
The CCTV installed on the East Coast vibrates violently.
Surprised children stopped class and came out to the school yard.
The Annals of the Joseon Dynasty recorded that a much larger earthquake occurred at sea.
In the strong earthquake that struck Gangwon-do in 1681, “a wall collapsed with a loud sound and the sea water stirred.”
It is estimated to be an earthquake of magnitude 6 to 7 that occurred off the coast of Gangneung, and it is explained that a tsunami occurred.
It is still unknown if this series of earthquakes are precursors to larger earthquakes.
Experts say, however, that where a major earthquake occurred in the geologically recent past, there is always a risk of another strong earthquake.
[김영석/부경대 환경지질과학과 교수]
″The Hupo fault and the Ulleung fault can generate quite large earthquakes, so it is considered that there is a good chance that they may generate even a magnitude 7.″
If a tsunami occurs close to land, it will arrive within 10 minutes and there will be no time to evacuate.
Therefore, it is necessary to investigate not only land fault zones but also seafloor fault zones as well as strengthen earthquake preparedness in the East Sea.
This is Hyun In-ah from MBC News.
Video editing: Lim Joo-hyang
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