Do text quake alerts exist only for Koreans?

Emergency text alerts are only available in Korean. / Courtesy of Twitter

By Lee Han-soo

Emergency text alerts for magnitude 4.0 and above earthquakes will be sent nationwide from mid-October. But the messages will be sent only in Korean, which reflects the Korean authorities’ lack of attention to safety of foreign residents here.

The Korea Meteorological Agency (KMA) will take over responsibility for the alerts from the Ministry of Public Safety and Security (MPSS), which had sent the texts after receiving information from the KMA. The move is expected to cut significantly the time it takes to send quake and tsunami alerts.

Emergency texts for earthquakes below 4.0-magnitude are also expected to change. The KMA plans to send alerts to people within 35 kilometers of the epicenter of earthquakes with magnitudes of 3.0 to 3.5. For magnitude 3.5-4.0, people within 50 kilometers of the epicenter will receive texts.

But technical issues remain because 3G phone users will not receive an alert unless they download a free government app.

The app’s English version, “Emergency Ready,” however, does not provide emergency texts.

“We have developed an English version system but due to the malfunction from the last earthquake in September, we are currently in the process of repairing it,” a MPSS official said. “Currently, there is no way to receive the emergency alert texts, except for Koreans.”