Korea, China, Japan Cooperate in Quake Disaster Mitigation

Nations agree to share observational data on seismic activities at Mt. Baekdu

Korea, China and Japan have agreed to work together on dealing with earthquakes and to exchange technology. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) hosted the Fifth Tripartite Meeting on Earthquake Disaster Mitigation with the China Earthquake Administration (CEA) and the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) on Jeju on Nov. 17.
During the meeting, KMA Administrator Chun Byung-seong stressed the fact that Korean people are very concerned about the possibility of earthquakes, including one on Mt. Baekdu, and active cooperation from Chinese and Japanese authorities is needed.
In return, Chinese and Japanese delegations expressed their sympathies on that matter and agreed to work out detailed steps to jointly cope with seismic activities in each country in the future.
According to the agreement, the three countries will not only expand the ongoing exchange of seismic data, but also share real-time data on earthquake and tsunami observations. The deal has built a foundation for further surveillance of earthquakes and tsunamis that occur in the neighborhood of the Korean Peninsula.
The tripartite meeting recognized the need for the three countries’ joint concern and research on the possible eruption of earthquakes on Mt. Baekdu, providing the KMA with the ability to secure swift surveillance of seismic activities that occur in Northeast Asia as well as to strengthen the foundation for a joint response to minimize the damage caused by earthquakes.
The KMA said it plans to continuously promote exchanges with Chinese and Japanese working-level officials so that the agreements reached at the meeting can yield actual outcomes as well as to explore detailed collaboration projects in each field and put them into action.
Meanwhile, the KMA held bilateral working-level talks with the CEA at the KMA headquarters in Seoul on Nov. 15 prior to the tripartite meeting and discussed ways of engaging in joint responses to seismic activities at Mt. Baekdu.
During the working-level meeting, CEA officials promised the KMA that they would provide information related to the eruption of earthquakes that occur at Mt. Baekdu. The two countries also agreed to share materials being collected by observatories set up at Mt. Baekdu to conduct surveillance of seismic activities. The KMA agreed to share data on earthquakes from five observatories including the ones in Changchun and Shenyang, a move to raise Korea’s capability to keep eyes on earthquakes that take place in the Mt. Baekdu area and the West Sea.
In an effort to translate this into action, the two sides decided to lay the foundation to exchange technology on the prediction of the eruption of earthquakes and conduct joint research by agreeing to dispatch experts to each side and hold joint earthquake expert workshops. In a related development, the KMA is expected to visit the CEA in the first half of 2011 and invite Chinese experts to Korea in the second half.
The CEA began to conduct observations of seismic activities at Mt. Baekdu in 1985, and since 2001 major Chinese observatories have been designated and operated to examine the mountain’s seismic activities. Debate on the possible eruption of earthquakes at Mt. Baekdu has been mounting, but unlike Korea, the Chinese government is denying the possibility of the eruption of earthquakes at Mt. Baekdu, citing two instances. China, which has been observing the seismic activities of the mountain for the past 25 years, has ruled out the possibility that earthquakes could rock Mt. Baekdu, citing only the observation that seismic activities were more active during the period between 2002 and 2005. The occurrence of quakes has been lowered, showing signs of being more stable than before. nw

KMA Administrator Chun Byung-seong and CEA Vice Administrator Yin Chaomin and JMA Director General Kunio Sakurai each hold an agreement on dealing with earthquakes and exchanging technology following the Fifth Tripartite Meeting on Earthquake Disaster Mitigation. (right) KMA Administrator Chun speaks at the tripartite meeting.

KMA Administrator Chun Byung-seong

(from top) KMA Administrator Chun Byung-seong and his Chinese and Japanese counterparts hold the Fifth Tripartite Meeting on Earthquake Disaster Mitigation.

The delegates of the tripartite meeting pose in the main lobby of the KMA head office where Korea’s ancient meteorological instruments are on display, including the world’s first rain gauge, Chukwugi, invented by King Sejong of Joseon Dynasty in 441.

KMA Administrator Chun Byung-seong and CEA Vice Administrator Yin Chaomin exchange a certificate of agreement following their bilateral working group meeting.

Korea’s first meteorological satellite (inset), the Communication, Ocean and Meteorological Satellite (COMS), has been successfully put into orbit recently, making the nation the 7th country to have its own meteorological satellite.