October 7, 1978 Earthquake: Hongseong, South Korea
A magnitude 5 earthquake struck Hongseong, South Korea on October 7, 1978 at 09:19:52 UTC, 5 km below the surface.
Map
Where it struck, with the other significant earthquakes within 200 km. Circles are sized and colored by magnitude; select one for its page.
The earthquake
- Date
- October 7, 1978
- Time
- 09:19:52 UTC
- Place
- Hongseong, South Korea
- Magnitude
- 5 (ML)
- Focal depth
- 5 km (3 mi)
- Intensity
- 8 on the Modified Mercalli scale
- Tsunami
- None recorded
- Epicenter
- 36.550° N, 126.670° E
- Country
- South Korea
The toll
- Damage
- Moderate (about $1 to $5 million)
- Houses destroyed
- 17
- Houses damaged
- 2,000
Where the literature gives no number, NCEI records a description on a scale of 1 to 4, printed here in its words. Damage is in millions of US dollars of the year of the event, not adjusted for inflation.
What the record says
NCEI’s account, from the sources it cites.
Another damaging earthquake, occurring on 7 October 1978 in the middle of the peninsula (yellow star), caused cracks in more than 2000 houses and resulted in 17 houses partially collapsing. Its estimated intensity was 5 on the JMA scale or VII on the modified Mercalli intensity (MMI) scale (at the epicenter) (Suh, 1979). (reference #13188)
Other significant earthquakes nearby
Within 200 km, the deadliest first.
- August 12, 1664, Chonju,chinan, South Korea
- September 12, 1700, Chungchong, South Korea
- December 27, Kwangju, South Korea
- July 89, Kwangju, South Korea
- January 24, 1455, Kwangju, South Korea
- October 30, 1670, Kwangju,sunchang,unkyo,kosan, South Korea
- July 16, 1613, Suwon, South Korea
- June 11, 2024, Jeonbuk, South Korea
- July 1036, Kaesong, North Korea
- August 1, 1385, Kaesong, North Korea
- December 9, 1649, Yellow Sea, South Korea
- July 31, 1668, Yellow Sea, North Korea
- July 3, 1936, South Korea
More
Significant earthquakes of 1978The 1900sEvery quake the USGS located in 1978Recent earthquakes near hereThis day in weather history
Sources
Significant earthquakes from NOAA’s National Centers for Environmental Information, Global Historical Hazard Database, cited as NCEI/WDS, doi:10.7289/V5PN93H7. Public domain. Read 2026-09-24. NCEI earthquake 10604.