Korea may not be safe from quakes

China earthquake kills 180 : Rescuers work in the quake-hit Qingren district of Ya'an City in Lushan County, Sichuan Province, Saturday. The earthquake — measured by China's earthquake administration at magnitude 7.0 and by the U.S. Geological Survey at 6.6 — left at least 180 people dead and more than 11,000 injured.

By Kim Se-jeong

A 4.9-magnitude earthquake was registered at 8:21 a.m. in waters off Shinan County, South Jeolla Province, Sunday, the most powerful temblor to be registered in Korea this year.

No casualties were reported.

Since it followed a massive quake in China, Saturday, some experts take it as a sign that the nation is not as safe from earthquakes as people had thought, although they acknowledged the two were not connected.

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), the epicenter was located 101 kilometers off the coast of Shinan and the quake lasted for four seconds.

Byun Yoo-jin, a resident in Yeosu-gun, which is more than 200 kilometers away from the epicenter, however, told The Korea Times she felt the ground shake for at least 10 seconds.

“My house shook and it was so scary. A tree in my living room shook. So did the chair I was sitting on and a wall clock,” Byun said.

Following the quake, police stations were flooded with inquiries. The region was previously hit by a 4.2-magnitude quake in September last year.

The most powerful earthquake to date was registered at 5.2 in May 2008 off the east coast of the peninsula.

KMA expert Kim Myung-su warned that Koreans have every reason to stay alert.

“We can’t be complacent about earthquakes,” he said.

“There is a record of a tremor over magnitude 6.0 that shook the peninsula. Also China’s Sichuan belongs to the same Eurasia Plate as Korea. People should be aware that a destructive earthquake can happen in this country.”

However, other experts such as Chi Heon-chul from the Korea Earthquake Research Center refused to be alarmist.

“There’s no reason to be worried. What happened off the coast of Shinan is the result of a clash of small-scale plates, which look as if they are connected to quake prone plates under Sichuan Province and Japan, but are in fact separate ones.”

The 2008 Sichuan earthquake killed almost 69,195, with 18,392 missing and presumed dead. It was measured at 8.0.

The 9.03 Japan quake in 2011, primarily remembered for the damage to the nuclear power plant in Fukushima, left 15,883 dead and 6,143 injured.