After my previous post about nuclear reactors in Korea, I got to thinking about Korean tsunamis. Have there ever been any big ones, especially along the east coast, where three of the power plants are located? About the only information I could find was this article from the English language Chosun Ilbo newspaper. The article had this to say:
Friday’s earthquake left Korea unscathed because it happened in the Pacific Ocean, but it would have been a different story if the quake hit the western side of Japan. Earthquakes measuring 7.7 and 7.8 on the Richter scale in Akita in 1983 and Hokkaido in 1993 caused 1 to 2.7 m tsunamis in Korea’s eastern port cities of Mukho and Samcheok around 100 minutes later, leading to deaths and damaged vessels.
Not huge, by any means, but it seems the potential is there for disaster. Hopefully, the power plants are well protected.