SEOUL, Sept. 12 (Yonhap) -- An earthquake with a magnitude of 5.

3 jolted the country's

southwestern region, South Korea's meteorological agency said Monday.
Busan Regional Meteorological Administration pinpointed the epicenter of the quake at 8
kilometers south of Gyeongju, some 371 kilometers southeast of Seoul. The quake was felt
throughout Gyeongsang Province.
X
by TurboMac
No damage was immediately reported, although most people in the region felt homes and
buildings shake.

colin@yna.co.kr
(END)
X
by TurboMac

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An officer from the Korea Meteorological Administration briefs

about an earthquake at the at the National Earthquake and
Volcano Center of the Korea Meteorological Administration in
Seoul, South Korea, Monday, Sept. 12, 2016. Officials say two
earthquakes measuring magnitude 5.1 and 5.8 have jolted an
historic city in southeastern South Korea, but there are no reports
of serious injuries or damage. (Sun Dong-jin/Yonhap via AP)
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September 12, 2016

An earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 5.8 jolted southeastern

South Korea, the biggest-ever striking the country, about an hour after a

5.1-magnitude tremor occurred, local media outlets reported on Monday,

citing the countrys weather agency.

The 5.1-magnitude tremor struck on the outskirts of Gyeongju city in

North Gyeongsang province at 7:44 p.m. local time. The epicenter was

located about nine km (5.5 miles) southwest of the city.

by TurboMac

The second tremor with a magnitude of 5.8 struck the nearby region, just

1.4 km (under one mile) away from the first epicenter, at 8:32 p.m. local

time.

It was the countrys biggest-ever quake, surpassing the previous strongest

tremor that happened in January 1980.

The tremor was felt nationwide from adjacent cities of Ulsan and Busan

to as far north as capital Seoul and far south as the southern resort island

of Jeju.

There has been no damage reported yet, the Ministry of Public Safety and

Security was quoted as saying.

Story by The Associated Press and Xinhua

The quake detected at 8:32 p.m. was the strongest tremor reported on the Korean
Peninsula to date, being noticeably stronger than the magnitude-5.3 tremor that rocked
the eastern Pyongan region in North Korea in January 1980, the Korea Meteorological

Administration (KMA) said. It added that the epicenter was near the Naenam-myeon
region some 8 kilometers south of the historic city of Gyeongju.
The quake was preceded by a 5.1-magnitude tremor detected at 7:44 p.m. which was
centered about 9 kilometers south of Gyeongju. The second quake was felt in most parts
of the country that generally does not have a lot of tremors. Gyeongju is the old capital of
the Shilla Kingdom (57 B.C.-935 A.D) and is located 371 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
The KMA said the series of earthquakes were strong enough to be felt throughout the
nation. An official from the Seoul Metropolitan Government said the second tremor felt like
a magnitude-2 earthquake in the capital city.

No serious damage was immediately reported, although there were two injuries, the KMA
said.
Korea Hydro & Nuclear Power Co., which operates the country's nuclear plants, said none
of its reactors including those at the Wolsong, Hanul and Gori plants, which are close to
the epicenter, were affected by the earthquake, adding they are still producing electricity.

On the other hand, a combined cycle power plant in Ulsan, not far from Gyeongju,
reported one of its thermal power generation units going off line.
The KMA said it has also detected 22 aftershocks reaching between magnitude 2 and 3.
Most people in the region near the quakes' centers felt homes and buildings shake
violently, with residents living in an 80-story highrise in South Korea's largest port city of
Busan saying they felt the building shudder. Busan International Finance Center said it
evacuated most people from its 63-story building as a precautionary measure.
The Ministry of Public Safety and Security said damage being reported so far involved
broken glass and cracks to walls and floors. It, however, said there was a spike in people
calling authorities to find out about the quake.
The government said it set up the Central Disaster and Safety Countermeasures
Headquarters to better collect damage reports and get a better grasp of the situation.
Authorities also said a few KTX bullet trains halted operations for short period of time
causing delays at some stations. South Korea's most-used mobile messenger KakaoTalk,
meanwhile, went offline shortly after the quake in Gyeongju.
Korea Airports Corporation said the earthquakes did not damage the facilities as well as
flight schedules.
Shortly after the earthquakes, President Park Geun-hye said the government will do all it
can to gauge details of damage caused by the seismic shocks, and vowed to come up
with safety measures for key facilities including nuclear reactors.
Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn ordered ministries to make full-fledged efforts to provide
support to those suffering from physical or material damage. The prime minister's office
said it has also ordered all related ministries to maintain emergency operations to prepare
for additional aftershocks.

Students evacuate from a school in the southern city of Ulsan on Sept. 12, 2016
(Yonhap)