By Kim Bo-eun
Korea could be exposed to a 5- to 5.5-magnitude quake in coming years, experts said Monday, following consecutive deadly quakes in Japan and Ecuador.
Two earthquakes, each of 6.5 and 7.3 magnitudes, hit Japan’s Kumamoto region on the island of Kyushu Thursday and Saturday, causing more than 40 casualties.
Tremors from the quake that hit Kumamoto Saturday were felt in Busan, raising questions about whether Korea should be on the alert for earthquakes.
While the Korean Peninsula is in the "safe zone," it has felt small-magnitude quakes recently.
“The location of the Kumamoto quakes lie on the same tectonic plate as the Korean Peninsula, so the possibility for a 5- to 5.5-magnitude quake occurring in coming years has risen,” said a researcher at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources.
“Korea must keep a careful watch on the impact of the (Kumamoto) quakes on the peninsula in the next five years.”
Meanwhile, experts said the 7.8 quake that hit Ecuador's coast Saturday and the Kuamamoto quakes were unrelated.
Despite the timing, the two locations were too far apart to have been affected by each other, they said.
“The quakes in Ecuador and Japan resulted from the collision of different tectonic plates,” the KIGAM researcher said.
“The Ecuador quake resulted from the collision of the plates of Nazca and South America, while Japan’s quakes arose from the Philippines plate.”
The Ecuador quake, which hit the northern coastal town of Muisne, killed more than 230 people and injured nearly 1,600, according to reports.