In March 2025, a series of devastating forest fires swept through parts of South Korea. Some of the largest fires, including one near Anton in the southeast, were brought under control by the end of the month, according to news reports. However, the fires left a lasting impact on the local landscape.
This image shows a burn mark in North Gyeongsang Province (North Gyeongsang Province), taken on April 4, 2025, by OLI-2 (Ocean Land Imager-2) on Landsat 9. The image uses false color, a combination of shortwave infrared, near infrared and visible light (band 6-5-3), to help highlight the contrast between unburned vegetation (shown in green) and areas recently affected by fires (shown in brown). A detailed view of this image is provided below.
On March 21, amid dry and windy weather, dozens of fires began to break out across the country. The next day, a particularly large plume of smoke appeared near Anton. The fire continued to spread, and by March 25, satellite thermal anomalies indicated that the fire had spread all the way to the coast. Light rain moved into the area, helping officials contain the fire on March 28. The smoke and clouds eventually cleared, and Landsat 9 was able to observe the burned area more than 80 kilometers (50 miles) from the coastline.
The deadly fires burned tens of thousands of hectares and destroyed thousands of buildings, some of them historic, according to news reports. The fire has been described as one of the worst in the country.
NASA Earth Observatory image by Lauren Dauphin, using Landsat data from the U.S. Geological Survey. Text introduction written by Kathryn Hansen.
Compiled from /scitechdaily