ID :
170189
Wed, 03/23/2011 - 09:44
Auther :

Strong earthquake hitting Korea cannot be ruled out: expert

SEOUL, March 23 (Yonhap) -- The possibility of a potentially destructive earthquake occurring on the Korean Peninsula cannot be ruled out in light of its geological features and historic data, a local seismologist said Wednesday.
Chi Heon-cheol, a researcher at the state-run Korea Institute of Geoscience & Mineral Resources (KIGAM), said that while there is very little chance of a major quake hitting the country, a tremor with a magnitude of 6.5 or higher could take place.
"The Korean Peninsula is seismically more stable than neighboring China or Japan, so major quakes exceeding magnitude 7.0 are unlikely, but this does not mean tremors classified as strong will not take place here," the expert said.
Because the country is located on the Eurasian plate, it is being constantly pushed by the Indian, Pacific and Filipino plates, he said.
"The reason why such seismic activities do not affect the country is due to the pressure being released in neighboring countries," Chi said.
China's Sichuan quake of 2008 with a magnitude of 8.0 and the recent tremor off the coast of Sendai in Japan with strength tallied at 9.0 are examples of pressure being released before affecting the Korean Peninsula.
Chi, however, warned there are numerous historic records showing considerable seismic activity taking place in the southeastern part of South Korea, where two of the country's four nuclear power plants are located.
"There is evidence of fault lines close to cities such as Gyeongju and Ulsan that had caused buildings and structures to collapse in the past," he said.
According to the Korea Meteorological Administration, an average of 40 earthquakes are detected per year around the Korean Peninsula, though most are too small to be felt by people. Moderate quakes with magnitudes of around 5.0 occur roughly every five years, it said.

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