Five people involved in a geothermal energy research project were acquitted Thursday in a first-instance ruling on charges stemming from the 2017 Pohang earthquake, which prosecutors alleged was triggered by their work.
The First Criminal Division of the Daegu District Court's Pohang Branch acquitted all five defendants — including officials from the organization overseeing the enhanced geothermal system (EGS) project and lead researchers from state-run research institutes and universities.
The defendants were indicted on charges of professional negligence causing death and injury. Prosecutors alleged that after a magnitude-3.1 earthquake struck in April 2017 during geothermal operations, the defendants continued the project without adequate safety measures, triggering a magnitude-5.4 earthquake in Pohang in November of that year and a magnitude-4.6 aftershock in February 2018, leaving more than 80 people dead or injured.
The court acknowledged Thursday that the Pohang earthquake was a "triggered earthquake" — one induced by hydraulic stimulation and other activities carried out during the geothermal research project.
However, the court found it difficult to establish a substantial causal link between the defendants' professional negligence and the occurrence of the earthquake.
The court also found that, given the level of technology and research conditions at the time, the allegations raised by prosecutors — including inadequate safety management, excessive hydraulic stimulation, and deficiencies in earthquake monitoring and microseismic management systems — did not rise to the level of professional negligence.
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