 |
| A KMA official points at a seismograph depicting the 3.9 magnitude earthquake in Sangju on Sunday at the KMA office in Daegu. / Yonhap |
By Lee Suh-yoon
A 3.9 magnitude earthquake rattled the inland city of Sangju, 270 kilometers southeast of Seoul, Sunday, the weather agency said.
The quake struck the North Gyeongsang Province city at 11:04 a.m., followed by an aftershock of magnitude 1.5 six minutes later.
It was the biggest seismic activity recorded in Korea's inland territory this year, according to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA).
"The earthquake was caused by fault movement. No damage is expected but many people would have felt the tremor," a KMA official said.
Within two hours of the quake, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety received 279 reports from citizens who felt the tremble. There were no reports of injuries or damage.
Residents in nearby cities, such as Daejeon and Sejong, also reported they felt the tremor. One Sangju resident told local press that he felt the ground sink abruptly with a heavy thud.
The country's nuclear power plants and radioactive waste disposal facilities were unaffected by the quake and continued operations as usual, Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co. said.
The quake was the third-strongest to take place this year, trailing behind two others detected on the city's east coast earlier this year ― a 4.3 magnitude earthquake at Donghae on April 19 and a 4.1 earthquake at Pohang on Feb. 10. Pohang is also the site of the devastating 5.4 magnitude quake in 2017 that left 118 injured and 84.5 billion won in damage costs.
![[INTERVIEW] How AmazeVR revolutionizes aespa's LYNK-POP concert](https://img.koreatimes.co.kr/upload/thumbnailV2/4431833759c44bdaa414cb314e90f2fe.jpg/dims/resize/178/optimize)
