Seoul to complete anti-quake subway reinforcement project by 2014

SEOUL, April 25 (Yonhap) -- The Seoul city government said Monday that it will complete an ongoing project to make the city's subway tunnels quake-resistant by 2014, two years earlier than originally scheduled, amid heightened safety concerns following Japan's devastating earthquake. Since 2004, the city has been assessing earthquake resistance capabilities on eight of the nine subway lines. The recently built line No. 9 was exempt from the test because it was constructed based on a quake-resistant design. So far, 70 percent or 234 kilometers of the eight lines' combined 335.9 kilometers have been tested and determined to be able to withstand a magnitude 6 earthquake. Assessment on the remaining portion is still under way, officials said. Lines No. 1-4, which stretch 146.8 kilometers, were the first set of subway lines to open in 1974. Of them, 44.9 kilometers were found to be quake-resistant, 20.2 kilometers need to be reinforced and the remainder needs to be tested, officials said. The city will complete the remaining tests on Line No. 1-4 by next year and complete reinforcement works by 2014, shortening the period by two years from initially planned, officials noted. It will begin repair works on the 20.2 kilometers next year, they added.