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False earthquake warning drives searches
A false earthquake alert in Japan topped Google’s trending searches in South Korea on Oct. 16, 2026, reflecting a day of public interest spanning disaster warnings, sports, corporate disputes, entertainment and financial markets.
The term “Japan” recorded more than 2,000 searches after the Japan Meteorological Agency issued information about a magnitude 9.9 earthquake — potentially the strongest ever recorded — before canceling it eight minutes later. Strong-earthquake alerts had extended as far as Tokyo, drawing attention to the scale of the erroneous warning.
Sports, Samsung and entertainment
Cho Myung-woo, the world’s top-ranked carom billiards player, placed second with more than 500 searches. He is among 31 South Korean players scheduled to compete in the inaugural Yanggu Three-Cushion World Cup. Cho is also set to compete at South Korea’s 107th National Sports Festival, a major annual multisport competition, where billiards begins Oct. 18.
Samsung Electronics Chairman Lee Jae-yong ranked third with more than 2,000 searches amid a dispute over employee performance bonuses. Members of the Donghaeng labor union blocked Lee’s vehicle, and the union’s chairman alleged that he was injured by Lee’s security team.
Singer Hyun Sook placed fourth after revealing that she found 38 million won hidden beneath her late mother’s bedding. She said she added her own money and donated the entire amount to help children with leukemia. The story was scheduled to appear on the JTBC variety show “Knowing Bros.”
Samsung Electronics’ stock code, 005930, ranked fifth with more than 2,000 searches. Shares closed at 215,500 won, up 2.62% from the previous session, as foreign investors became net buyers of the stock for the first time in 13 trading days. The stock rose further to 216,000 won in after-hours trading. Reports also cited heat problems involving Qualcomm’s next-generation application processor and the possibility that Samsung’s internally developed Exynos chip could be selected instead.
Social issues and investments round out the list
“Half marathon” ranked sixth after the Korean Medical Association called on the government to strengthen safety management at road races. The Seongnam Development Corp. placed seventh as it sought to recover 2.2 billion won that Daejang-dong figure Kim Man-bae was accused of concealing through his wife, including by requesting a provisional seizure of land.
Cryptocurrency trader WarNyoTti ranked eighth after disclosing about 6 billion won in South Korean stock investments and saying the total could rise to as much as 20 billion won.
“Bigung,” a South Korean guided rocket system, placed ninth following news that LIG D&A would work with U.S. company Firehawk Aerospace to develop rocket propulsion for the American military and pursue opportunities in the U.S. defense procurement market.
The general term “worker” ranked 10th with more than 500 searches. Related coverage focused on South Korean local governments signing agreements with Laos to bring in seasonal foreign workers and ease agricultural labor shortages.
The rankings and approximate search volumes were drawn from Google Trends’ real-time South Korea data for Oct. 16. Google reports the search totals as estimates.
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