Hongcheon landslide forces evacuation of 16 residents in Gangwon
A landslide in Gangwon buried a farm equipment warehouse and damaged farmland, while continuing rockfall delayed recovery efforts.
Rocks and soil flow down a collapsed slope following a landslide in Hongcheon County, Gangwon, on Sept. 4.
YONHAP
A large landslide in Hongcheon County, Gangwon, forced the emergency evacuation of over a dozen residents on Friday. No injuries were reported, but the slide buried a warehouse and damaged nearby farmland.
A resident reported hearing rocks continuously falling from a mountain in Mogok-ri, Seo-myeon, at around 7:49 a.m., according to the fire authorities.
Ten pieces of equipment and 22 personnel were subsequently deployed to control the site and carry out safety measures.
While no one was hurt and no homes were damaged, one warehouse storing farm equipment was buried in soil and debris, and part of the surrounding farmland was damaged.
Anticipating further landslides, authorities evacuated 16 nearby residents to a village community center and restricted access to the site.
Authorities believe the soil runoff and rockfall occurred along a stretch of about 20 to 30 meters (65 to 100 feet), starting near the ridge close to the summit of the 320-meter (1050-foot) mountain and extending down toward its foot.
Residents said small rocks had occasionally been falling from the mountain for three days before the landslide, and that rockfall continued throughout the previous day, unlike usual.
The cause of the landslide is not yet known. The affected area was not among the 3,234 landslide risk zones managed by the Gangwon provincial government. No construction work or solar power facilities were found to be present on the mountain, either.
Hongcheon did, however, receive 45.8 millimeters (1.8 inches) of rain over three days, from Sunday to Wednesday, according to the Gangwon Regional Meteorological Administration.
Hongcheon County requested technical consultation from the Korea Forestry Promotion Institute's disaster safety arm to determine the exact cause of the landslide, the scope of the damage and the direction for recovery.
The county said it will decide when residents can return once the site's safety has been confirmed. Currently, immediate recovery work is difficult because the soil continues to flow downhill, it said. Officials plan to begin emergency recovery, including removing debris and installing waterproof covering, once the runoff stops.
"As soon as the soil flow stops, we will begin recovery work using emergency recovery funds," a county official said. "We will closely manage the situation until the site is stabilized and residents can return."
BY JEONG JAE-HONG [[email protected]]
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
