Award Considered for Medical Staff
Who Protected Patient During Earthquake
Amid a magnitude 8.8 earthquake that struck the waters near the Kamchatka Peninsula in Russia, local medical staff who continued surgery despite the situation have drawn attention.
On July 30 (local time), the Telegram news channel Shot released CCTV footage showing the operating room of the Kamchatka Regional Cancer Hospital shaking due to the earthquake. The video captured the entire building trembling, with the patient's bed, lighting, and medical equipment all shaking together. Despite the powerful quake, the medical staff did not leave the operating room. They calmly held onto the patient and medical equipment to prevent anything from falling, waiting for the earthquake to subside.
Medical staff who did not stop cancer surgery even during the Gangjin earthquake. Yonhap News · Telegram News Channel Shot
Oleg Melnikov, the Kamchatka Regional Minister of Health, stated, "The medical staff completed the surgery even during the earthquake, and the patient is safe." Vladimir Solodov, Governor of Kamchatka, said via Telegram, "I have instructed that documents be prepared so the medical staff who continued the surgery and did not abandon the patient during the strong earthquake can receive a national award," adding, "Such courage deserves the highest recognition." He also expressed his gratitude to the medical staff who did not lose their sense of duty even amid the powerful quake.
Earlier that day, at 11:24 a.m. (8:24 a.m. Korean time), a magnitude 8.8 earthquake occurred in the sea about 60 kilometers east of the coast of Russia's Kamchatka Peninsula. This earthquake was the strongest since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and is the sixth most powerful earthquake since the 20th century. According to data from the United States Geological Survey (USGS), the largest earthquake worldwide since the 1900s was the 1960 Chile earthquake (magnitude 9.5).
As a result of the powerful quake, damage occurred such as buildings collapsing in Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Russia, but no deaths have been reported so far. However, a tsunami with a height of 1.3 meters was observed at Kuji Port in Iwate Prefecture, northeastern Japan, and tsunami advisories were issued for Japan's Pacific coastal regions as well as the U.S. states of Hawaii and Alaska.
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