Small earthquake shakes South Korea agricultural region
Seoul (AP): A 4.1-magnitude earthquake shook a small agricultural county in South Korea's central region on Saturday, but officials said there were no immediate reports of damage.
South Korea's weather agency said the small earthquake in the town of Goesan was still the strongest of the 61 quakes that have occurred in the country this year and would have been powerful enough to topple objects or break windows.
Emergency officials have received more than 140 calls from residents saying they felt the ground shaking. The calls were mostly from the central North Chungcheong province but also from Gyeonggi province surrounding the capital, Seoul, and the southern North and South Gyeongsang provinces, according to the weather agency and government officials.
Central government and North Chungcheong provincial officials said they weren't aware of any damage.
Kim Dong-wook, a resident in the central city of Chungju, told news channel YTN that he heard rumblings in the ground and that windows rattled like during a typhoon. He said he saw plates and bowls scattered across the floor of a restaurant in the building where he lives but he didn't know of anyone being hurt.
The office of South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol said he instructed officials to also review the safety of electricity and telecommunication systems, although there were no immediate reports of problems.
South Korea's Nuclear Safety and Security Commission said the earthquake didn't pose a threat to the safety of nuclear power reactors in the country's southeastern regions. It also said the earthquake didn't affect a research reactor in the central city of Daejeon, which is about 70 kilometers (43 miles) from where the quake occurred.
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Prague (PTI): World champion D Gukesh survived some anxious moments in the early middle game before finally drawing with Hans Moke Niemann of the United States in the first round of the masters section of the Prague International Chess Festival here.
The Berlin defense that went wrong for white could be a perfect heading for the encounter between the world champion and Niemann, who is walking his way to the elite chess circles after being indirectly accused of foul play.
It may be recalled that the American infamously won a game against world number one Magnus Carlsen, which will now be documented in a forthcoming Netflix series.
ALSO READ: Cheating made bigger than it actually is: Gukesh
Niemann came all guns blazing and sacrificed a piece with black piece as early as on move 13 to put Gukesh on the back foot despite having the white pieces.
The Indian was down but not out which he proved as the game progressed, and even though, black seemed like pushing for more with his extra pawns in exchange for the sacrificed knight, Gukesh ensured that he stayed in the game.
The eventual outcome was a draw, the lone one in the 10-player, nine round tournament that saw everyone with white pieces triumph in contrasting styles.
Defending champion Aravindh Chithambaram of India turned out to be on the wrong side of a position against Nodirbek Abdusattorov of Uzbekistan.
The Philidor defense by the Indian generated enough evidence that every opening could be playable only till he walked into a deft manoeuvre.
Aravindh lost in the rook and minor piece endgame after losing one of his pawn, and if that was not enough top seeded Vincent Keymer of Germany was blown away by a resurgent Jorden van Foreest of The Netherlands.
It was another Berlin defense wherein Foreest came out with a new idea that perplexed Keymer. As the opening concluded, the Dutchman had an advantage and he picked up a handful of pawns to register a comprehensive victory.
Also ending on a winning note was Abdusattorov's name sake and teammate Nodirbek Yakubboev who put it across David Anton Gujjaro of Spain, while in the other encounter of the day local favourite Navara David proved stronger against Iranian Parham Maghsoodloo.
In the challengers section, women's world cup winner Divya Deshmukh drew with top seeded Benjamin Gledura of Hungary from a position of strength but Surya Shekhar Ganguly ended on the receiving end against Thomas Beerdsen of The Netherlands.
Results after round 1 Masters: D Gukesh (IND) drew with Hans Moke Niemann (USA); Nodirbek Abdusattorov (UZB) beat Aravindh Chithambaram (IND); Jorden van Foreest (NED) beat Vincent Keymer (GER); David Navara (CZE) beat Parham Maghsoodloo (IRI); Nodirbek Yakubboev beat David Anton Guijarro (ESP).
Challengers: Divya Deshmukh (IND) drew with Benjamin Gledura (HUN); Surya Shekhar Ganguly (IND) lost to Thomas Beersden (NED); Zhu Jiner (CHN) lost to Jachym Nemec (CZE); Daniel Yuffa (ESP) lost to Stepen Hrbek (CZE); Jonas Buhl Bjerre (DEN) drew with Vaclav Finek (CZE).
