Gyeongju Earthquake

[Anchor Lead]

A 5.8-magnitude earthquake hit the southern city of Gyeongju around 8:30 Monday night. Recorded as the strongest earthquake on the Korean Peninsula since seismic monitoring began, the tremors were felt across the country.

[Pkg]

A 5.8-magnitude earthquake was detected near Gyeongju in the southeastern province of Gyeongsangbuk-do at 8:32PM last night. It was the strongest one recorded since earthquake monitoring began in 1978. The Korea Meteorological Administration announced that the tremors were felt by almost everyone across the nation. Seismic intensity 6 tremors were felt in the cities near the epicenter, such as Daegu and Gyeongju, causing cracks along the walls, broken water pipes and other structural damages. About an hour prior to this quake, a 5.1-magnitude foreshock shook the Gyeongju area at 7:44PM yesterday evening. Tremors from this quake were also felt nationwide, including in Seoul and surrounding metropolitan areas. The epicenters of both earthquakes were found to be the inland area southwest of Gyeongju. The distance between the two epicenters was 1.4 kilometers in a straight line. The Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources analyzed the hypocenter or the depth of epicenter to be 12 kilometers, while the KMA said it was 15 kilometers. The KMA forecasted that it wasn't very likely that an earthquake stronger than 5.8 would occur and aftershocks will gradually dissipate as well. The weather forecasting agency also projected low possibilities for tsunamis.