By Park Si-soo
Staff Reporter

A magnitude 3.0 earthquake occurred with its epicenter located just outside western Seoul, Tuesday evening. Some citizens, apparently alarmed by a recent major tremor that hit Haiti, called fire stations and media outlets for confirmation of the temblor, although no injuries or serious property damage were reported.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), the earthquake occurred at 6:08 p.m. in an area about 8 kilometers north of Siheung, a satellite town in Gyeonggi Province on the outskirts of the capital.

``The tremor continued for two or three seconds,’’ the administration said in a briefing. Residents especially in western Seoul reported that the quake was strong enough for them to feel the buildings they were in shaking.

The tremor was felt as far away as Yongin, Suwon and Goyang.

It was the strongest tremor out of three recorded in the bustling capital city of 12 million since 1987, when the administration began to monitor earthquakes in Korea. The other two occurred on Sept. 15, 2004 and June 14, 1990, but again they caused no damage.

A 31-year-old man, who was working at an Internet start-up in Siheung, about 40 km southwest of Seoul, told The Korea Times, ``I was startled, when the windows of the building I was in were trembling and I also heard some noise.’’

The quake was the seventh to hit the Korean peninsula this year alone, the KMA added.

pss@koreatimes.co.kr