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| A family is on the way home Friday morning from a public sports facility that held hundreds of residents displaced by the earthquake that hit the southeastern port city of Pohang on Wednesday. / Yonhap |
Relief effort continues amid earthquake aftermath
By You Soo-sun
The government announced it will provide early relief funds as damage continued to rise Friday, two days after the magnitude 5.4 earthquake struck the south-eastern port city of Pohang.
According to authorities, 1,789 have been displaced and 400 injured as of Friday in the aftermath of the initial quake and 51 aftershocks that followed.
Twelve are now hospitalized and 63 have been discharged. One, a 70-year-old female, was hit by a rock and lost consciousness.
The city estimates the earthquake produced property damage of at least 7.3 billion won ($6.6 million) as of Friday morning.
The tremors also affected 407 public facilities, including 200 schools, mainly in the form of fissures.
Another 1,213 personal properties were also affected, most of which were residential homes.
The damage is seen as some of the worst the country has ever encountered from seismic tremors which barely occur in the country.
While slightly lower than last year's earthquake of magnitude 5.8 in Gyeongju, a nearby city, it was felt by many across the nation ― even by some in Seoul, Busan, Gwangju, and on the Jeju Island.
The government said it has raised 814 million won in relief funds.
It is also considering designating the area as a disaster zone, in which case 9 million won would be given to each of the victims who lost their houses and half that amount would be given to those whose houses were partially damaged.
The Seoul city government also provided 20 million won and relief goods such as mattresses, blankets, and water bottles for the victims.
Apart from the government, relief efforts have begun across the country.
Over 1,300 volunteers from 59 organizations have directly assisted the victims and private companies have also offered donations.
However, critics say government relief funds, even if allocated, will not go far enough especially since only a small percentage of the victims are eligible to benefit due to the low insurance registration rate in the urban areas.
And although the tremors have calmed down since Wednesday evening, experts believe a strong aftershock may follow, even days after. Gyeongju, for example, had a magnitude 4.5 aftershock three days after activities were thought to have calmed down.
There are worries this may yet again cause a delay in the state-administered college entrance exam, considered the most important exam in the country.
Originally slated for Thursday, the exams were postponed by a week due to the quake.
The government has completed safety checks on 12 schools in Pohang where the exams are to take place and will re-check five of them for potential safety issues.
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