[Anchor]
This earthquake is pointed to as being caused by the reactivation of the fault that triggered the strong Kumamoto earthquake 10 years ago. Compared to South Korea's strongest earthquake in 2016 in Gyeongju, its destructive power is 90 times greater.
Reporter Jeong Gu-hui has the analysis.
[Reporter]
This footage was filmed at an apartment in Pohang, North Gyeongsang Province, more than 300 km away in a straight line, just two minutes after the earthquake struck Kumamoto, Japan.
A ceiling light swings violently as the tremors continue.
[Pohang Citizen: I was cooking rice when my head suddenly felt dizzy and I got vertigo. I looked up and saw the dining table light moving around, so I realized it was an earthquake.]
Tremors reaching a maximum intensity of 3 were detected in Jeju Island and the southern regions, and reports of feeling the earthquake reached 789 cases.
Every time the magnitude of an earthquake increases by 1, the energy increases by 32 times. A difference of magnitude 2 means the power increases by 1,024 times.
South Korea's strongest instrumental earthquake in history was the Gyeongju earthquake, which recorded a magnitude of 5.8 10 years ago. Because the Kumamoto earthquake is 1.3 magnitudes larger than that, its energy is an estimated 90 times more powerful.
Kumamoto is located at the collision point between the Eurasian Plate—to which South Korea and southern Japan belong—and the Philippine Sea Plate, making strong earthquakes frequent.
This Philippine Sea Plate subducts beneath the Eurasian Plate at a rate of about 5 cm every year, shaking the underground and creating earthquakes.
Immediately after this earthquake, when the Japanese government measured it using GPS data, a crustal deformation occurred with the ground instantly shifting up to 84 cm to the northeast.
The problem is that the Hinagu Fault, which caused this earthquake, could trigger even stronger earthquakes.
The Hinagu Fault, where the crust is displaced, extends 81 km out to sea.
Ten years ago, two earthquakes occurred within two days at the end of this fault, and this time the earthquake occurred in the middle of the fault.
Japanese experts are warning that an earthquake of up to magnitude 8 could occur along this fault.
This is why we cannot let our guard down against even stronger earthquakes for the time being.
(Video by Won Hyeong-hee, Design by Park Tae-young)
※
Copying, redistribution, and unauthorized use in AI training are strictly prohibited.