Gyeongju residents were awakened at 5 a.m. by earthquake

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At around 4:55 a.m. on November 30, a magnitude 4.0 earthquake struck an area 19 km southeast of Gyeongju, Gyeongsangbuk-do (Munmudaewang-myeon, Gyeongju-si). The epicenter was around 12 km underground, and there were numerous reports of shaking in Gyeongju, Ulsan, and other parts of the Yeongnam region.

As of 9 a.m. on Thursday, the Gyeongbuk Fire Service Headquarters received a total of 123 reports (59 in Gyeongbuk, 41 in Ulsan, 15 in Daegu, 6 in Busan, 1 in Chungnam, and 1 in Jeonbuk). Most of the calls were to confirm whether it was an earthquake, the fire authority explained.

A magnitude of 4.0 is strong enough to make many people indoors to feel vibrations and some to wake up. The earthquake occurred about 20 km away from Naenam-myeon, Gyeongju-si, where a 5.8-magnitude earthquake, the largest ever recorded in South Korea, occurred on September 12, 2016. At that time, more than 20 people were injured due to the quake. The Korea Meteorological Administration first observed the earthquake just two seconds after it rattled the area and sent out emergency disaster text messages nationwide in eight seconds.

"It reminded me of the earthquake that occurred seven years ago in Naenam-myeon," said Park (48) a resident of Gyeongju. "I went out of the house as I was startled by the strong tremors, but I was relieved because the quake stopped soon." Baek (59) who lives in Pohang said, "I woke up as my bed shook violently while I was sleeping,” and added, “I couldn't go back to sleep because the trauma of the earthquake occurred in Pohang six years ago made me scared." Kim (60) said, "I was driving to the hospital in the early morning, and I had to park my car on the side of the road and couldn't move for a while because I was startled by the strong tremors.”

Fire authorities confirmed that no damage has been reported so far. Wolseong Nuclear Power Plant, which is located about 10.1 km away from the epicenter, is apparently unaffected by the recent quake. No safety-related issues were found at the nuclear waste disposal center in Gyeongju either.

Compared to the Korea Meteorological Administration, which sent out urgent disaster text messages within eight seconds after the quake, Gyeongbuk Province and Gyeongju-si were criticized for sluggish responses. Gyeongbuk Province sent out the disaster text messages to the residents at 5:29 a.m., around 30 minutes after the quake occurred. Gyeongju-si sent out the messages later than Gyeongbuk Province at around 5:43 a.m.

※This article has undergone review by a professional translator after being translated by an AI translation tool.