Interior ministry opens monthlong quake drill as 11,254 outdoor shelters go on the map

The interior ministry said Wednesday it will run a monthlong public campaign through Oct. 30 to get residents to find and visit the earthquake and tsunami evacuation sites nearest their homes, schools and workplaces, with 11,254 outdoor earthquake shelters and 652 tsunami shelters now registered nationwide.

Residents can use the Safety Stepping Stone app or the Naver, Kakao and Tmap map apps to locate outdoor earthquake evacuation sites or emergency tsunami shelters near them, and those who physically visit a site can log the visit from Oct. 12 to Oct. 30. A promotion booth tour runs from Oct. 20 to Oct. 25, and residents can report damaged or broken evacuation site signs and errors in location information through the Safety Report Center from Oct. 26 to Nov. 30.

The ministry has designated Oct. 19 to Oct. 25 as Earthquake Safety Week and will operate promotion booths at four locations nationwide: Gangnam Square in Seoul on Oct. 19, the Daejeon Bus Terminal on Oct. 21, Mangwon Han River Park in Seoul on Oct. 23 and the Busan Station culture hall on Oct. 25. The booths offer hands-on content on how to respond during an earthquake, tsunami or volcanic eruption, and the ministry plans an intensive push on the same guidance through television, outdoor billboards, cinemas and social media.

South Korea's outdoor earthquake shelters are spread across all 16 cities and provinces, while the 652 emergency tsunami shelters are registered in four: Busan, Ulsan, Gangwon Province and North Gyeongsang Province.

Earthquake Safety Week dates back to the 2016 Gyeongju earthquake, when the government set aside the first week of October to concentrate national preparedness drills and public outreach on seismic safety.

The ministry said it will keep monitoring earthquake activity nationwide, including in the Haenam area, and will check that local governments and related agencies maintain evacuation sites and key facilities on a standing basis, alongside training for local government officials on earthquake and tsunami response systems, joint tabletop tsunami drills with related agencies, and mobile earthquake safety classes and evacuation drills for children.

"Because earthquakes strike without warning, it is important to know the evacuation sites and routes around your home, school and workplace in advance," said Kim Kwang-yong, head of the ministry's disaster and safety management headquarters. "I ask the public to take part in the events running through October, check the shelters near you in person and learn how to respond when an earthquake occurs."