Koreas: twice as many earthquakes this year

A study has found that, including North Korea and the seas, our country experienced twice as many earthquakes this year as in the past.

According to the Korea Meterological Association on the 27th, there were 56 earthquakes on the Korean Peninsula this year through last month, twice the average since record-keeping began in 1978. The highest number, 60, was recorded in 2009.

It’s also over ten more than the average of 43.6 recorded each year since digitial detection methods were begun in 1999.

There were nine which reached at least 3.0 on the Richter scale and four which were strong enough to be felt by people.

Other than in the seas the largest number, 11, were in the Daegu and Gyeongsangbuk-do area, followed by four in Jeollabuk-do and two each in Busan, Ulsan, and Gyeongsangnam-do.

In North Korea seven earthquakes were recorded, and there were none in the capital region of Seoul, Gyeonggi-do, and Incheon.

There were 12 in the West Sea, nine in the Sea of Japan (East Sea), and seven in the South Sea.

The strongest earthquake of the year so far occurred on May 11th at 12:46 pm, five kilometers east-northeast of Muju-gun in Jeollabuk-do, registering a 3.9 on the Richter scale.

Houses and windows shook in Muju and Namwon, at an intensity level of IV. In Daegu and Daejeon the intensity was of level II but there was no damage.

The increased number of earthquakes in recent years is likely due to the effects of the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2010, the KMA said.

In this country there were 42 earthquakes in 2010, 52 last year, and 56 as of Christmas of this year.

Kim Yeong-shin of the KMA said that “around the world in recent years there has been an increasing number of earthquakes… since the Great East Japan Earthquake there has been a slight decrease as energy levels seem to have been adjusted.” AsiaCorrespondent