Half of Pohang's population file damages claims for 'artificial' earthquakes

Nearly half the population of Pohang, North Gyeongsang, has filed claims against the government and related companies for damages resulting from “human-made” earthquakes in 2017 and 2018.

Pohang residents line up in front of the office of the civic committee for the Pohang earthquake in Buk District to file damage complaints against the government and related businesses on Nov. 22. [KIM JUNG-SEOK]

Nearly half the population of Pohang, North Gyeongsang, has filed claims against the government and related companies for damages resulting from “human-made” earthquakes in 2017 and 2018.

A civic committee of Pohang residents estimates that around 170,000 Pohang residents filed lawsuits in the past month after a court acknowledged that the government and companies, including Posco, are responsible for compensating residents.

The 5.4-magnitude earthquake, the second-strongest ever recorded in Korea, that hit Pohang on Nov. 15, 2017, and the 4.6-magnitude aftershock on Feb. 11, 2018, are believed to have likely been triggered by the government's geothermal power experiments in the area.

Last month, the Daegu District Court ruled that the plaintiffs should pay residents 2 million to 3 million won ($1,542 to $2,313) in damages.

The court said the defendants should pay 3 million won to Pohang residents who experienced both the 5.4-magnitude earthquake in 2017 and the 4.6-magnitude aftershock in 2018. Residents who only experienced one of the quakes should be paid 2 million won, the court said.

The 2017 earthquake displaced nearly 1,800 people. The Bank of Korea said the earthquake damaged 57,000 structures, and the Ministry of the Interior and Safety said it would cost around 144.5 billion won to restore the damage.

The Korean Government Legal Service, representing the government, and Posco appealed the ruling. The civic group in Pohang also appealed as it has requested 10 million won in compensation per individual.

About 220,000 residents have filed claims for damages, including the 50,000 who participated in the first trial. That number accounts for nearly half of Pohang's population of 500,000.

The committee believes the figure may be higher as the number of requests for copies of their resident registration rose to as high as 10,000 a day after the court’s ruling. Typically, around 500 to 600 copies are requested a day.

According to the Pohang city government, the number of resident registration copies requested rose almost twentyfold from 622 on Nov. 14 to 12,042 on Nov. 21.

Only residents who file a lawsuit by March 20 are eligible for compensation, as the case’s statute of limitation is five years, according to the special law for the “investigation and compensation for the Pohang earthquakes.”

Those who wish to participate in the lawsuit must have resided in Pohang when the quakes occurred. They can file the complaints at any attorney’s office in Pohang or the office of the civic committee with the required documents.

A person sits at a gym in Pohang where tents for earthquake evacuees are installed on Nov. 1, 2019, almost two years after the earthquake struck the city on Nov. 15, 2017. [SONG BONG-GEUN]

The civic committee stressed that residents should come together “not to lose the case or receive less compensation” as the government will put its best efforts and resources into winning the appeal trial.

The city government of Pohang will host sessions to explain the damage suit and the compensation to residents from Monday through next Thursday, inviting regional attorneys to help.

In 2019, an international research group led by the Geological Society of Korea concluded that the government’s geothermal power experiments likely triggered the quake in Pohang in November 2017.

The group analyzed 520 earthquakes in Pohang, North Gyeongsang, from January 2009 to November 2017, of which around 240 took place within three miles of a site where the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy was experimenting with the Enhanced Geothermal System (EGS).

This technology turns geothermal power into electricity and involves fracturing hot underground rock with pressurized liquid, known as hydraulic stimulation.

According to the group, there were at least five hydraulic stimulations from the EGS experiments that significantly disturbed faults in the area, which, in turn, triggered the Pohang earthquake in November 2017.

BY KIM JUNG-SEOK, CHO JUNG-WOO [cho.jungwoo1@joongang.co.kr]