Son of a bitch, I knew I felt something!

by Robert Koehler on January 21, 2007

in South Korea

There was apparently a 4.8 earthquake west of the East Coast town of Gangneung at 8:56 this evening.

The quake was apparently detectable throughout the country.

As I was sitting here this evening, I felt the floor shake momentarily, and I thought to myself, gee, that’s peculiar. I thought it might have been an earthquake, but having never felt one before, I wasn’t sure.

Unlike our friends across the East Sea, Korea doesn’t get a whole lot of earthquakes, especially ones of this magnitude.

Anyway, there doesn’t appear to be anything in the way of loss of life or major property damage, although the good folk in and around Gangneung were shaken up pretty good with reports of broken roof tiles and cracked windows. Let’s hope nobody got seriously hurt.

VN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

{ 2 trackbacks }

ROK Drop Links of the Week: 15-21JAN07 at ROK Drop
January 21, 2007 at 9:59 am
lao ocean girl » Earthquake in Gangneung
January 21, 2007 at 10:25 am

{ 29 comments… read them below or add one }

1 sanshinseon January 21, 2007 at 1:04 am

Yeah we sure felt it here in Seoul, and having lived in and around San Francisco for 6 years, i knew it was a quake. Very strong one for Korea which is so stable, quite rare. Strange. Hope there’s no serious damage…

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
2 Robert Koehler January 21, 2007 at 1:10 am

Yeah, it felt weird. I live fairly close to a major road, so the house shakes on occassion when a big truck passes by. But this felt different.

UA:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
3 Curzon January 21, 2007 at 1:20 am

Something else I’ve noticed about earthquakes (after experiencing several dozen) is that they have their own distinct sound: the sound of absolutely everything shake, for miles and miles. It’s eerie.

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
4 pawikirogi January 21, 2007 at 4:02 am

lost nomad, I thought you said if Korea had a small earthquake, all the buldings would collapse. Do you ever get used to being wrong?

I’m glad there were no injuries.

ps why do you guys get so angry? I gave you guys a compliment last night. At least you guys are better than the trash at nomad’s place. pawi can give. peace.

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
5 jefferyhodges January 21, 2007 at 5:40 am

My wife and I felt the tremor, just around 9:00 p.m. (according to our somewhat fast clock). The wave passed, a rattle rose and diminished, and then silence. We looked at each other, and I said, “Earthquake.”

I’ve felt a lot of them from my lengthy time in the San Francisco Bay Area, so I was pretty sure… but I wanted to confirm it, which my wife did by tuning into the news.

A few minutes later, I was typing up a blog, but I didn’t post it until this morning.

I’m glad that it was an earthquake. Otherwise, we wouldn’t have stayed in our 23rd-floor apartment last night because something would have been wrong with the building itself.

Jeffery Hodges

* * *

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
6 user-81 January 21, 2007 at 6:56 am

Pawikirogi, Lost Nomad said that about a “strong earthquake“:

A Korean friend and I had a discussion about this very subject about a year ago or so. Could you imagine a strong earthquake hitting here? Think about all the raised roads, overpasses, and bridges. The rows and rows of high-rise apartments and office buildings that would fall like dominos. My friend told me it’s not a problem because Korea isn’t prone to earthquakes like Japan is. Huh. All it takes is one.

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
7 usinkorea January 21, 2007 at 7:16 am

I remember back in 1996 or 97 when I was in Wonju there was an earthquake. I was bone tired from the sweat shop-like hours on a split schedule my boss forced us to do, and I remember coming half awake as it seemed like the bed had suddenly turned into a water bed as different parts of it seemed to be rising and falling at the same time like waves, and I remember being awake enough to think, “Is this an earthquake” but still asleep enough that when I woke up to go to evening classes, I couldn’t tell if I had dreamed it or not. In the 2nd class, someone mentioned it. Apparently the only people who really felt it were those on higher floors of buildings.

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
8 Brendon Carr January 21, 2007 at 7:41 am

4.8 is not a strong earthquake. It’s just an earthquake.

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
9 Dram_man January 21, 2007 at 8:29 am

Frankly I blame it on Global Warming.

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
10 Wedge January 21, 2007 at 9:33 am

That global warming is just ruining everything, isn’t it? I felt a couple in Pusan as well back in the 90s and noticed the one last night. I wasn’t too far from Whittier in ‘87.

I would agree with the Nomad on this one: A large quake (say 6.0 or larger) would be devastating here. I once had a construction worker tell me 95% of the structures he worked on were under code. Site foremen would pinch rebar and other materials and consider gains from such theft as part of their compensation package.

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
11 Nomad January 21, 2007 at 10:11 am

pawikirogi,

Do I ever get used to being wrong? If and when it happens, I’ll be the first to let you know, ace ;) .

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
12 Nobongpil January 21, 2007 at 10:42 am

I was in Chuncheon, we got enough of a shock here to grab our jackets and leave the building. The tremours lasted a good 15 secs. A long enough time to understand what was going on an spring into action. Though upon arriving outside it didn’t appear as though many others took the same precaution.

My gf was privvy to Yogyakarta’s violent quake mid last year while she was studying there. During that quake she was injured but not seriously. She wasn’t messing around… She was like “it’s a QUAKE, GO, GO, GO.” No damage to report here.

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
13 Sperwer January 21, 2007 at 11:02 am

My house here in Seoul did a little dance for about 10-15 seconds, and Curzon is right on the money regarding the sound.

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
14 judge judy January 21, 2007 at 11:18 am

My instincts kicked in and I got in the doorway. Unfortunately, I failed to tell my better half to do the same. All of the relatives got a phone call last night telling them just how selfish I am. None of them really seemed surprised…

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
15 Robert Koehler January 21, 2007 at 11:49 am

Pawi, while I appreciate your “compliment,” might I suggest that if you’re got something to say to Nomad, you take it to him directly via his blog.

UA:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
16 Nomad January 21, 2007 at 12:20 pm

Robert,

Thanks but no thanks…he’s all yours.

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
17 babarian January 21, 2007 at 12:55 pm

I also think it may have something to do with the climate change. I don’t think Korea had any noticeable earthquake until relatively recently.

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
18 Rick January 21, 2007 at 2:29 pm

I was already too hammered to notice….but I asked my wife if the earth moved for her…and she said it did!

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
19 pawikirogi January 21, 2007 at 5:03 pm

‘Pawi, while I appreciate your “compliment,” might I suggest that if you’re got something to say to Nomad, you take it to him directly via his blog.’

you piss me off a lot because i don’t like your politics, but then, i know i’m not your favorite either. my compliment wasn’t directed at you. whatever i direct towads you will have your name.

but anyway, you’re right. i apologize.

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
20 Sperwer January 21, 2007 at 5:17 pm

I once had a construction worker tell me 95% of the structures he worked on were under code

And “code” – the current one that actually purports to require moderately quake resistant buildings – is only about 3-4 years old. Before that the requirements were so much lower as to be laughable – and still the knuckleheads cut corners a la Sampoong Dept. Store

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
21 dogbertt January 21, 2007 at 8:26 pm

I felt it in Seoul.

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
22 ShawnLee January 21, 2007 at 10:45 pm

I knew it!

My friend and I (we’re both from Southern California) were hanging out watching a movie when we looked at each other and said, “Earthquake? Earthquake.”

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
23 michael January 22, 2007 at 9:00 am

A 4.8 quake is really mild–in California you get that level several times a year. For comparison, the L.A. (Northridge) quake in 1994 was a 6.7 and it leveled buildings.

Here’s a good site if you’re a quake junkie (I’ve got it bookmarked):
http://www.iris.edu/seismon/

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
24 SomeguyinKorea January 22, 2007 at 9:31 am

michael, nobody is claiming that the quake was anything but mild. It’s just that they are quite rare in Korea, which is why it was a surprise.

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
25 michael January 22, 2007 at 10:05 am

Someguy, earthquakes are not uncommon in Korea, they’re usually around a level 3 magnitude or less.

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
26 slim January 22, 2007 at 1:12 pm

Have they ruled out more subsurface fucking around by the Norks?

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
27 railwaycharm January 22, 2007 at 4:48 pm

‘Pawi, while I appreciate your “compliment,” might I suggest that if you’re got something to say to Nomad, you take it to him directly via his blog.’

you piss me off a lot because i don’t like your politics, but then, i know i’m not your favorite either. my compliment wasn’t directed at you. whatever i direct towads you will have your name.

but anyway, you’re right. i apologize.

Patches O’Houlihan is rolling in his grave.

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
28 Mirei January 22, 2007 at 10:39 pm

Mother Nature is really pissed off, isn’t she?

Be afraid, be very very afraid. >_>

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)
29 Sperwer January 23, 2007 at 9:35 am

This article in the Dong-A is sobering:

http://english.donga.com/srv/s.....7012371778

It reports on simulations done by the government based on the assumption

that an earthquake registering 5.2 on the Richter scale took place 1.39 km northwest of Pyeongchang-dong, Jongno-gu, Seoul (latitude 37.62, longitude 126.96), 30km deep at 3:48 p.m.

The outcome was shocking. In Seoul, Gyeonggi Province, and Incheon, 60,293 buildings were destroyed and 36,197 people died. In downtown Seoul alone, 52,530 buildings were destroyed and 27,640 citizens died.

The scope of the projected damage apparently is due to insufficiency of required construction countermeasures:

The government has mandated that buildings with more than six floors be earthquake-proof since 1988. In 1992, that mandate was extended to roads and bridges, and in 2005, buildings with more than three floors. However, the data of the Ministry of Construction and Transportation showed that 60 percent of buildings with more than six floors and more than 27 percent of main transportation facilities such as bridges and tunnels were not designed to be earthquake-proof.

Professor Kim said, “I cannot believe even earthquake-free buildings exist on paper,” referring to earthquake-proof standards that consider earthquake loads but which don’t have specific regulations on factors affecting building stability, such as reinforcing rods.

Since I live in Pyeongchang-dong, I’m even more interested in the unanswered question why my neighborhood was chosen as the epicenter of the simulated quake.

UN:F [1.8.1_1037]
Rating: 0 (from 0 votes)

Previous post:

Next post: