Until recently, natural disasters usually meant floods, typhoons and droughts for modern-day Koreans. For many, the thought of encountering a devastating earthquake never occurred to them.

This public sentiment -- that Korea is safe from catastrophic underground tremors -- has changed a lot since a 5.8-magnitude earthquake jolted the Gyeongju area on Sept. 12.

The temblor, the strongest ever on government record, was preceded by a 5.1-magnitude quake and was followed by more than 400 aftershocks. The two major shakes did cause some damage to property, but the impact was not so serious as to threaten lives and key facilities, such as nuclear power plants and oil refineries.

The overall situation was under control as recovery work was going on in the affected areas. Nevertheless, the continuing aftershocks agitated the people living in the areas near the epicenter.

Then relatively strong aftershocks -- measured at magnitude 4.5 and 3.5 -- rattled the area again Monday night and Tuesday morning. It was not as chaotic as the major foreign quakes Koreans are used to seeing on television, but the power of the two latest shakes were strong enough to cause panic among residents.

People raced out of their houses and offices with many spending the night outdoors fearing a stronger quake was to come. Teachers evacuated students in the wake of Tuesday’s tremor.

Some chose to live in the area temporarily and news reports say that some residents who had visited their family members in other areas for the Chuseok holiday have yet to return.  

So it is hardly surprising to hear that people in the heavily affected areas have stocked up on emergency packages and daily necessities. The stockpile includes Japanese quake backpacks people can purchase online.

In a sense, this is a good development as the quakes -- while the damage is largely contained -- are developing an awareness of the dangers of major underground tremblors in Korea.

A big problem, however, is that the government -- which is responsible for protecting the lives and properties of the people in emergencies like war and major disasters -- seems least prepared for earthquakes.

The Ministry of Public Safety and Security should bear the brunt of the criticism. For instance, its website was shut down when wary Internet users rushed to it when the first tremor hit on Sept. 12. Officials said they expanded the server capacity, but the website was not accessible again when the 4.5-magnitude aftershock came. 

In the week since the first tremor the ministry’s response has failed to improve. Emergency text messages, which reached people nine minutes after the Sept. 12 shake, were sent out 14 minutes after the 4.5-magnitude aftershock.

No wonder a lawmaker chided the government saying that the people fear the government’s ill-preparedness more than the major quakes to come.

Either the Blue House of the Prime Minister’s Office should take charge of overhauling Korea’s anti-earthquake measures, including an emergency response system, geological examination, protection of key facilities like nuclear power plants and publishing manuals on how to respond to emergencies.