Fearful quake-hit residents stock up on emergency supplies
A Ulsan resident has prepared an emergency backpack containing canned food, a flashlight, underwear, sleeping bag, water and some extra cash in case another earthquake hits the city. / Yonhap
By Hong Dam-young
Anxious residents in quake-hit Gyeongju and surrounding cities are stocking emergency backpacks with food and searching for evacuation shelters, fearing another powerful earthquake.
This follows a 4.5-magnitude aftershock that shook Gyeongju on Monday night. The tremor was the 399th after two powerful 5.1 and 5.8-magnitude quakes struck the historic city on Sept. 12.
“I feel so anxious after going through three powerful earthquakes,” said a resident in Ulsan, who is also planning to buy a radio and a helmet.
“I’ve placed an emergency backpack at the front door in case I have to leave the house for days.” Ulsan is just kilometers north of Gyeongju.
His emergency backpack includes canned food, a flashlight, underwear, sleeping bag, tissues, water and some extra cash.
“I’ve already found a place to evacuate to, a nearby schoolyard,” he said. “It feels safer now, unlike last time when I wandered around in the rain amid the tremors without any guidelines.”
The number of people buying combat rations also has increased. An online combat rations retailer said orders from Ulsan, Busan and Gyeongju surged after the quakes.
“In Japan, they sell water that can be stored for six years, but Korea doesn’t have such a thing,” said another Ulsan resident, who also bought an emergency backpack.
“Korea should prepare emergency supplies as well.”