포항지진조사단, '포항지진, 지열발전이 '촉발'…자연지진 아니다'
An investigation was carried out to find out the cause of the earthquake that hit Pohang in 2017.
The team concludes it was triggered by a geothermal power plant.
Cha Sang-mi has our top story.
On November 15th, 2017,... residents of the city of Pohang had to evacuate as aftershocks from Korea's second largest earthquake on record shook their port city... some 370 kilometers southeast of Seoul.
At magnitude 5-point-4, the shaking destroyed thousands of homes and injured dozens of people, the estimated damage reaching nearly 75 million U.S. dollars.
The results of an investigation revealed Wednesday... that the quake was "probably or almost certainly anthropogenically induced" -- that is, caused by humans.
To blame, it said,... was a local geothermal power plant.
The year-long study by a team of local and foreign experts led by the Geological Society of Korea... concluded that the series of quakes was triggered by excavations at the plant that started in 2015.
"A series of micro-sized earthquakes occurred when fluids were injected in the process of excavating a geothermal well at the power plant, which eventually triggered the Pohang earthquake."
The geothermal power plant works by drilling four to five kilometers deep to tap into heat from the Earth, and injecting high-pressure water deep into hot rock.
During the process, the force of the water carves new fissures into the rock and absorbs heat, after which the hot water is pumped up to the surface, where,... as steam,... it turns turbines.
The geologists claimed that by weakening the ground, water infusion can cause seismic activity.
Local citizens plan to sue the government for compensation and to demand that it close the plant.
The plant had been temporarily shut down since last March during the assessment.
To this, the government pledged to spend more money to make the area safe again.
"In cooperation with Pohang, we will permanently suspend the project to commercialize geothermal development. And after discussing it with experts, we will restore the land as fast as possible so that safety is also restored."
As for who's to pay for the earthquake damage, Cheong said the government will abide by what the courts rule.
Cha Sang-mi, Arirang News.
