“Korea is also in the affected area… Urgent measures are needed for ‘earthquake-free’ old prisons”[글로벌 포커스]

Will the ‘Nankai Earthquake’ Occur Every 100 to 150 Years?
What happens to Korea if the Great Nankai Earthquake hits Japan? Busan, Ulsan, Jinju, Gyeongnam, etc. will shake
There are many houses in the old city center that are not designed to withstand earthquakes… We need to build structural protection measures such as signs and exterior walls.

In June, a magnitude 4.8 earthquake occurred in Buan County, North Jeolla Province, where earthquakes rarely occurred. There was no major damage, but this earthquake once again reminded us that Korea is not a safe zone from earthquakes. Just two months later, on the 8th of this month, a magnitude 7.1 earthquake occurred in Miyazaki Prefecture, Japan, raising fears of the Great Nankai Earthquake. Experts said, “If a magnitude 9.0 Great Nankai Earthquake occurs within a few years as currently predicted, Korea will also be affected,” and urged thorough preparation.

In particular, Miyazaki Prefecture, where the earthquake occurred this month, is only 420km away from Busan. If the Nankai Earthquake occurs, it is expected to have an immediate impact on the southeastern part of the Korean Peninsula, including Busan, Ulsan, Gyeongnam Jinju, Changwon, and Masan.

Hong Tae-kyung, a professor of Earth System Sciences at Yonsei University, explained, “During the Miyazaki earthquake, a seismic wave with an amplitude of 2 cm was observed on a seismograph installed along the southern coast,” and “Theoretically, if we calculate it, the magnitude of the seismic wave would be 30 times greater if a magnitude 9.0 earthquake occurred.” This means that if the Nankai earthquake occurs, the ground in the southern coast will shake vertically 30 cm up and 30 cm down, which is likely to damage buildings. However, the damage from the tsunami is expected to be low. Since Korea is located between the Nankai Trough and the Japanese archipelago, it would be difficult for a tsunami to reach Korea.

Large earthquakes can trigger another earthquake within a few years because they stimulate nearby faults. The earthquakes that occurred in Gyeongju, Gyeongbuk (magnitude 5.8) in 2016 and Pohang, Gyeongbuk (magnitude 5.4) in 2017 are believed to have been influenced by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. The number of domestic earthquakes has also been rapidly increasing since the Gyeongju and Pohang earthquakes.

However, it is difficult to expect the earthquake-resistant design of buildings in our daily lives to be strengthened immediately. The law mandating earthquake-resistant design in Korea was introduced in 1988. According to the Ministry of Public Administration and Security, only 16.3% of private buildings nationwide meet this requirement as of last year.

In other words, there is virtually no way to force earthquake-resistant reinforcement, which costs from tens of millions to hundreds of millions of won, on private buildings built before the mandatory system. This is why there is a need to at least devise ways to protect structures that can be greatly damaged by earthquakes, such as signs, exterior walls, and glass, in order to reduce the overall damage.

“Houses built before 1988 were not actually designed to withstand earthquakes, making them highly vulnerable to earthquakes,” said Heo Jong-wan, a professor at Incheon National University’s Department of Urban and Environmental Engineering and director of the Incheon Disaster Prevention Research Center and an expert in earthquake-resistant design. “It is especially urgent to establish earthquake countermeasures for the old downtown areas of major cities where brick houses are densely packed.”

Reporter Lee Ji-yoon [email protected]

Global Focus

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2024-08-24 22:52:35