A government research team has concluded that the magnitude 5.4 earthquake that occurred in Pohang in November 2017 is likely to be affected by a geothermal power plant.
The research team held a press conference on March 20 and announced the results of its survey that it is highly likely that the Pohang earthquake will be affected by a geothermal power plant.
It explained that the excavation and the repair stimulation using two geothermal wells were performed during the actual study of geothermal power generation, resulting in micro-earthquake sequentially.
The effects of these micro-earthquakes reached the epicenter of the Pohang earthquake and were accumulated and triggered the earthquake, it explained.
The Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy formed a government research team consisting of 12 domestic experts and five foreign experts to investigate the correlation between Pohang earthquake and geothermal power generation in March last year.
Pohang Geothermal Power Plant is a power plant that produces electricity by using the heat present on a rock 4km underground. Although it was planning to produce electricity from the end of 2017, its operation has been suspended due to an earthquake.
