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Employees at the Jeju Welcome Center evacuated to the building’s parking lot when an earthquake occurred off the coast of Jeju on Tuesday. (Yonhap News)

South Korea recorded its strongest earthquake of the year on Tuesday.

The 4.9 magnitude quake took place 41 kilometers off the southwest coast of Jeju Island at 17:19:14 pm, the Korea Meteorological Administration reported.

The exact location of the epicenter was 33.09 degrees north latitude and 126.16 degrees east longitude, and the depth of the earthquake was estimated to be 17 kilometers. This is the first time an earthquake of this magnitude has occurred in Jeju.

Besides Jeju, the quake was also felt in North and South Jeolla provinces as well as South Gyeongsang Province. Although quakes of such magnitude usually cause cracks in buildings, there were no reports of property damage or injury.

Heo Jong-heon, head of the Cheonji neighborhood, located relatively close to the epicenter, shared, “I thought the building was collapsing. For a long time, the community center was shaking and I could see the shaking of the transparent COVID-19 dividers that were installed in the public service center.”

“It sounded like the ground was being drilled with an excavator for about 10 seconds,” Heo continued. “Some people working at the site tried to hide under their desks.”

Park Jong-ok, 53, who heads the organization that operates the lighthouse on Mara Island, recalled, “I felt shaking for about a second. It was the first time I felt this in my three years of working here.”

One 86-year-old resident of Mureung village in Seogwipo shared, “I was home alone and the entire house started shaking, I thought it was going to collapse. The table in the kitchen was shaking too. In over 80 years of living this is my first time experiencing anything like this.”

Kang Jeong-dong, 42, a resident of Seogwipo said, “At first, I wondered, ‘Who does construction work at this time of day?’ The windows were shaking slightly and I could feel the ground under my feet move for around two to three seconds.”

“I was making dinner with my two children when I received the emergency alert. For a moment, I hesitated about whether to go outside or not,” Kang said.

Lee Min-jeong, 47, a resident of Yeon neighborhood, said it felt as though “dozens of large dump trucks were passing by at the same time.”

“It felt like the building was rumbling,” Lee explained.

Some daycare centers located in the island’s urban centers instructed students to take shelter under their desks while the quake was taking place. Employees at the Jeju Welcome Center in Yeon neighborhood also evacuated immediately after the earthquake was detected.

The Jeju Fire Department fielded more than 90 calls from citizens surprised by the earthquake.

By Lee Keun-young, senior staff writer; Huh Ho-Joon, Jeju correspondent

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]