6.7 Earthquake Hits Tri-Border Area Near Rajin, N. Korea
No word on damage or injuries in the area yet, but 6.7 is a pretty big quake. In 1994, an earthquake of equal magnitude centered at Northridge, California, killed 72 people and injured 9,000 more.
Though area residents said they did not feel the quake, office towers in Beijing — about 770 miles (1,240 kilometers) away from the epicenter — swayed slightly for about a minute.
The quake occurred 335 miles (540 kilometers) below the earth’s surface.
With earthquakes centered deep underground, sometimes those close to the epicenter don’t feel it while people further away notice some shaking, said the duty officer at the Seismological Bureau of Yanbian Korean Autonomous Prefecture in northeast China’s Jilin province. He refused to give his name as is common among Chinese officials. [AP]
Hopefully, that means everyone is OK. See also.
not that it’s trivial, the magnitude, but I read somewhere the epicenter was 200+ km below the surface. it was well absorbed, as opposed to the Haiti one which was 13k.
A 6.7-magnitude quake is nothing to scoff at, but casualties and damage depend on so many factors. An 8.1-magnitude earthquake in Guam — many times more powerful than Haiti or the DPRK-Russia quake — caused no deaths and not that much damage because of the small, isolated population and earthquake-proof high-rise construction, but look at Sichuan and Haiti for examples of how a less powerful quake can wreak havoc of biblical proportions.
The Chosun Ilbo reported increases in earthquakes each decade, and it got me wondering if a major quake causing Sichuan-level destruction might not be a catalyst for a quick end to the regime. The Chinese, it seems to me, were angry but still saw the state as a protector and stabilizing force; not so anymore for many in North Korea.
I am not a geologist nor am I a farmer but this sounds like a natural disaster that will just absolutely ruin this years harvest in N. Korea.
That’s the spirit, Mike. Keep it up and you, too, can get a job at Foreign Policy in Focus.