Go to contents

'Japanese quake will have no impact on Mt. Baekdu eruption’

'Japanese quake will have no impact on Mt. Baekdu eruption’

Posted April. 21, 2016 07:24,   

Updated April. 21, 2016 07:31

한국어

“Earthquakes hit Japan and Ecuador are not related each other. The Japanese earthquake will have no impact on possible volcanic eruption of Mount Baekdu (in North Korea).”

Ji Heon-cheol, head of the earthquake research center at the Korea Institute of Geoscience and Mineral Resources, explained about the influence on Wednesday that the earthquakes in Japan and Ecuador could have on the Mount Baekdu volcano. On the claim that the Japanese earthquake or North Korea’s nuclear test could have impact on volcanic eruption on Mount Baekdu while North Korean scientists recently discovered that magna exists under the surface of Mount Baekdu, Ji ruled out the possibility, saying, “The probability is effectively very low.”

“The common sense in the scientific community suggests that since the earthquakes happened on the opposite side across the Pacific, the impact could not have been transmitted in a short period of several days," Ji explained the reasons why the Kumamoto earthquake on Saturday last week could not have affected the Ecuadorian earthquake on Sunday. "Even considering geological structure, the Kumamoto earthquakes are no relations with the Ecuador earthquakes.”

The earthquakes in Japan will not likely have fatal impact on the Korean Peninsula as well. The earthquake on Mount Odae in Gangwon Province happened some 20 months after the Fukuoka earthquake in 2005, but the magnitude stood at 4.8 in Richter scale. “The earthquake-resistance standard for buildings in Korea is 6.5 in Richter scale, and an earthquake with a magnitude below that level does not cause major damage,” Ji said. “Japan to the east and Tanlu Fault in China to the west serve as a buffer that makes it difficult for a large-scale earthquake to erupt on the Korean Peninsula.”

Could North Korea’s nuclear tests affect volcanic eruption on Mount Baekdu? “It will take 15,000 years for magma to completely fill the magma chamber in Mount Baekdu, and elevate pressure to a level high enough to trigger explosion,” Ji said. “Even if the chamber is filled with magma, the North’s nuclear test site and Mount Baekdu are distant each other, and a nuclear test will have little chance to affect, unless it is a megaton-grade nuke test.” The North’s fourth nuclear test on January 6 measured 6kt.



이우상동아사이언스기자 idol@donga.com