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.
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29 Comments
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…
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.
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.
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.
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
* * *
Pawikirogi, Lost Nomad said that about a “strong earthquake“:
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.
4.8 is not a strong earthquake. It’s just an earthquake.
Frankly I blame it on Global Warming.
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.
pawikirogi,
Do I ever get used to being wrong? If and when it happens, I’ll be the first to let you know, ace ;).
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.
My house here in Seoul did a little dance for about 10-15 seconds, and Curzon is right on the money regarding the sound.
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…
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.
Robert,
Thanks but no thanks…he’s all yours.
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.
I was already too hammered to notice….but I asked my wife if the earth moved for her…and she said it did!
‘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.
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
I felt it in Seoul.
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.”
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/
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.
Someguy, earthquakes are not uncommon in Korea, they’re usually around a level 3 magnitude or less.
Have they ruled out more subsurface fucking around by the Norks?
‘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.
Mother Nature is really pissed off, isn’t she?
Be afraid, be very very afraid. >_>
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
The scope of the projected damage apparently is due to insufficiency of required construction countermeasures:
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.
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[...] Last night, a 4.8 earthquake shook Gangneung. I didn’t feel it here in Pusan, but supposedly, it could be felt around the country. Thankfully, there was no serious damage. Filed in: In: Kangneung, Korea [...]