Experts studying Korea's seismic fault lines to prepare for future quakes

한반도 지진 안전지대 아니다... 지각판, 단층, 액상화 분석

Earthquakes are very rare phenomenons in Korea.
But it's becoming increasingly clear that something needs to be done to be better prepared against the force of nature from now on.
Oh Jung-hee pinpoints the reasons for the sudden seismic activity and what could be in store down the road.
Korea has been traditionally regarded as an earthquake-safe country.
A few earthquakes have occurred off the Korean coast,... but not many have happened on land.
And unlike Japan,... which is located where the Eurasian plate and the Pacific plate meet,... the Korean peninsula is relatively far away from this boundary area.
But,...

(Korean)
"Earthquakes can still occur in Korea even though the country is located within the Eurasian plate. And that's what makes earthquake projection even more difficult. The energy created at the plate boundaries is transferred within the plates... and then later released through earthquakes."

According to geology experts,... there are roughly 450 active faults within the southern part of the Korean peninsula,... with most of them concentrated in the southeast.
Among them, the largest is the Yangsan fault.
170-kilometers long and 1-kilometer wide, both last year's Gyeongju earthquake of magnitude five-point-eight and the recent Pohang earthquake of magnitude five-point-four... occurred near this fault.
But, it's still difficult for the government and academics to accurately pinpoint which fault exactly caused the Pohang earthquake... as there are so many small faults connected to the Yangsan Fault.

(Korean)
"We're seeing that the earthquake broke out from a fault that has not yet been observed or reported about."

Some experts have warned that the Pohang earthquake could be a prelude to bigger tremors.
Also, Korea's meteorological agency has analyzed... that an earthquake as strong as magnitude six-point-two could strike the Korean peninsula.
And that's why Korea has to be better prepared for earthquakes and their after-effects... like soil liquefaction.
Soil liquefaction occurs,... when a strong-enough quake shatters the earth,... bringing groundwater up to the surface to mix with the soil above it.
This makes it as if the buildings are temporarily floating on water.
Geology experts have witnessed soil being liquefied at 100 spots... within two kilometers of the Pohang earthquake's epicenter.

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