Cover Story

On Sept. 12, an enormous earthquake hit Gyeongju. Because of this earthquake, people have noticed Korea is not safe from earthquakes anymore. So The Argus started wondering. Is HUFS safe from earthquakes? The Argus reports on the current condition of the earthquake response system in HUFS.


On Sept. 12, a strong earthquake that registered 5.9 on the Richter scale happened in Gyeongju, Korea. It was a powerful earthquake felt not only by the citizens in Gyeongju, but also by those in Seoul. The earthquake taught us that Korea is no longer safe from earthquakes. This begs the question: Is HUFS safe from earthquakes? The Argus checked whether HUFS is responding well to the earthquake, and if not, what the causes are and what the solutions should be.

Are HUFS buildings built with seismic design?

Based on the seismic guidelines, buildings with seismic design can resist an earthquake registering 6.5 degrees. Therefore it is of great importance.
According to the Constrution Planning Team (CPT), among the 14 buildings on the Seoul Campus, seven buildings including the Cyber Building and the Main Building were constructed with an earthquake-resistant design. In contrast, for the other seven buildings including the library and the Humanities Building, it is uncertain whether they were designed to withstand earthquakes.

Among the 12 buildings on the Global Campus, six buildings including the Centennial Complex and the newly-built dormitory were constructed with an earthquake-resistant design. On the other hand, as for the rest of the buildings including the Language & Literature Building, it is uncertain whether they were designed to withstand earthquakes.

What kinds of danger does HUFS face?

No seismic reinforcement in remodeling process

On the Seoul Campus, starting with the Institute of Teaching & Learning Development and the Humanities Building in 2009, five buildings have been remodeled so far, and on the Global Campus, starting with Mo Hyun Dormitory (HUFS Dormitory 1) in 2013, three buildings have been remodeled. These building were first built before 1988, when there were no compulsory regulations, so whether these buildings were built with seismic design is unknown. However, these are the buildings that students use most frequently, but there were no seismic reinforcements while remodeling them. 

Kim Ji-ho, an assistant chief of the CPT of the Global Campus, said, “Newly built buildings were constructed with seismic design, but in the case of existing buildings, we only repaired the bathrooms for convenience and improved the exterior of the buildings for looks.” As Kim said, no seismic reinforcement was done. However, it is a matter that directly connects with survival, which is obviously important.

Park Hong-geun, a professor of the Dept. of Construction and Engineering at Seoul National University, said, “If a powerful earthquake happens, inertial forces are applied on the building due to the movement of the ground. Seismic design adds flexibility to the building and helps it to have more ductility capacity and controls the inertial force. Without seismic design,  the possibility of damage and collapse increases if a powerful earthquake occurs. This could be very dangerous.”

No manuals for earthquake response

For the students’ safety and to minimize the damage of an accident, manuals and drills are necessary. However, there are no earthquake response manuals or drills at HUFS.
Lee Hui-jae, manager of the disaster management office in the Ministry of Public Safety and Security (MPSS) said, “A manual is very important to prevent confusion and response rapidly so that the damage can be minimized. An earthquake is an especially unpredictable disaster and does not happen frequently, so if it happens, it can throw people into confusion. Therefore, there must be a manual regarding this issue. Having no manuals in the event of an earthquake can make students and faculty members have a hard time coping with the situation which can cause casualties.”

Yoon Yi-sik, an assistant chief of the Facility Management Team of the Seoul Campus, said, “I think earthquake survival manuals and drills are essential, but there has not been any directive from the government. Therefore HUFS does not have earthquake drills or manuals yet.”


Backgrounds of inadequacies

Absence of structural drawings

One of the main reasons why seismic reinforcement is not being made is that there are no structural drawings of the buildings.

To start a seismic reinforcement, there must be structural drawings, without which the workers cannot have information on the buildings so they cannot plan the construction. In addition, when an earthquake happens, the rescue operation can be difficult without structural drawings because the rescue workers cannot know the structure of the building.

However, the CPT of the Seoul Campus does not have structural drawings of the buildings constructed before 1990, and the Global Campus does not have structural drawings of the buildings built before 2011. This means half of the buildings cannot have seismic reinforcements even if the university wanted them to. The problem derived from the fact that the storage and management of structural drawings were done without care and changes in management were not done appropriately.

The assistant chief, Kim Ji-ho said, “For the buildings built after 2005, the structural drawings are registered through a digital data processing system which makes the storage easier, but structural drawings made before 2005 cannot be registered through this system, so these are difficult to keep.”

Kim Jae-jin, the assistant chief of the CPT of the Seoul Campus, said, “Before the development of computers, we had to draw structural drawings all by hand. We could not register those through the digital data processing system, so we had to store them well, but actually we did not. And when the workers changed, the takeover of the management was not conducted well. I feel sorry for not having the designs, and I blame myself for this issue.”

MOE’s irresponsible negligence of making earthquake response manuals

The Ministry of Education (MOE) has an obligation to make the manuals to prepare for all sorts of disasters and accidents for educational institutes but they are not doing it. The government has a responsibility to minimize the damage from accidents and disasters and try their best for the safety of citizens.

Lee Hui-jae, manager of MPSS, said, “The government requires manuals and drills of public institutions and educational institutions to give citizens an opportunity to experience the situation and learn how to response.”

For example, fire drills are mandatory in all public and educational institutions by the Fire Services Act. In addition to the fire drill, the MPSS advised the MOE to arrange the making of earthquake manuals and drills. However, the MOE is not preparing the regulations requiring manuals and drills for universities.

Seo Bo-seung, an action officer of the Information Bureau of Safety Education for the MOE, said, “The reason we did not make the regulations regarding earthquake manuals and drills is that we thought the students’ participation would be poor so we did not feel it was a necessity.” However, soon after that, they acknowledged that this was a hasty generalization.

What can be done to solve these problems?

Restoration of structural drawings and creating a storage system

For effictive and accurate seismic reinforcement, structural drawings are necessary. So there must be efforts to restore or find them. Also to respond well for accidents, the system to keep and take over the storage well has to be made.
The assistant chief Kim said, “We will check whether the structural drawings exist in the Dongdaemungu office and if it is impossible, we will find other ways to restore the structural drawings by having them professionally recreated.”

Creating specific earthquake manuals and requiring drills in educational institutes

The MOE is expected to take action to require manuals and drills in universities and ensure that they are carried out properly. Moreover management systems and penal provisions to prevent negligence have to be prepared.
Officer Seo Bo-seung of the MOE said, “I acknowledge that the MOE is responsible for students’ safety. From now on, we will try our best to make regulations and guidelines regarding earthquakes. We will also carefully consider the related penal provisions.”


An earthquake is a very unpredictable and dangerous disaster that can cause casualties. Therefore, prevention of damage through seismic reinforcement or construction and establishment of drills is essential. However, HUFS has a long way to go to prevent the damage of earthquakes in terms of seismic reinforcement and drills. By dealing with the problems and improving systems, students will be much safer in the event of an earthquake. 

 

Reporter of National Section

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