Current Events

South Korea hit by the biggest earthquake in its recorded history

Posted by jubilantj182 pts Monday, September 12, 2016

You may have already noticed the hashtag on Twitter, but "#PrayForKorea" was trending for quite some time on the social media service.�

The hashtag had climbed to the top of the trending list at one point, as people all around the globe wished for the safety of everyone who were affected by the 5.8-magnitude earthquake in Korea.�

According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), the quake,�which was detected around 8:32 p.m. on Monday, is so far the strongest tremor recorded on the Korean peninsula. Records for seismic activity in Korea first began in 1978. The KMA also stated that the earthquake's epicenter was close to Naenam-myeon, around 5 miles away from the historical southeastern city of Gyeongju.�

A 5.1-magnitude quake at 7:44 p.m. had preceded the larger 5.8-magnitude�quake, the tremors for which were felt throughout the entire nation. In Seoul, the second quake felt like a 2-magnitude earthquake, according to the Seoul Metropolitan Government.�The Seoul Metropolitan Government further added that as of 1:00 a.m. on Tuesday, the country experienced a total of 111 aftershocks with magnitudes ranging from 2 to 4.�

Additionally, the Ministry of Public Safety and Security related that six civilians were injured and 102 damage cases were reported throughout Korea as of midnight.�

People in the region and the earthquakes' epicenters were reported to have felt their homes and buildings shake violently.

Government officials have implemented various safety and preventive measures, such as establishing the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures Headquarters to gather damage reports and better assess the disaster.�

President Park Geun-hye promised that the government will do everything in its power to implant additional safety measures for facilities such as nuclear reactors and to address the damages that were caused by seismic shocks.�

In addition, Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn taken steps to provide support to everyone who suffered physical and material damage, ordering for any disaster-related ministries to keep their emergency services accessible to tackle additional cases of aftershock.�

You can see just how violent it was and how scared the people who felt it were in a video clip from a live�mukbang�broadcast below. Needless to say, the mukbang BJs (broadcast jockey) freaked out when they felt the entire room shake, and the man proceeded to call his wife and kids right away to see if they were okay. Though the live broadcast had to be stopped, it doesn't appear that anyone was seriously hurt.�

We can only hope that the earthquake's aftershocks will not gravely harm or injure any more people and that they will take all necessary precautionary measures to stay safe.�