The number of victims injured or displaced and the amount of facility damage continued to rise Friday, two days after a 5.4 magnitude earthquake hit South Korea's southeast, authorities said.

The quake struck the port city of Pohang on Wednesday afternoon, with the tremors felt as far afield as Seoul, hundreds of kilometers away. It was the second-strongest earthquake recorded in the country, after last year's 5.8-magnitude quake in nearby Gyeongju.

The casualties stand at 75 as of 6:00 a.m., of whom 12 people are receiving treatment in hospital, while others have returned home after being treated, the authorities said.

The number of people evacuated from their homes increased by 400 to 1,789 as of 6 a.m. More than 1,200 damage reports have been counted, with most of them coming from residential areas. 

The state weather agency said 51 aftershocks have occured by 9 a.m. Friday.

A total of 407 public facilities, such as schools and cultural heritage sites, were affected by the earthquake, mainly in the form of fissures.

Relief items are being delivered to emergency shelters, and relief funds worth 814 million won ($742,000) have been raised, the government said.

The National Disaster and Safety Control Center said the government will provide victims with financial assistance early to help them rebuild or repair homes and other damaged facilities before those projects are completed.

Under the measure, victims with completely destroyed homes will be given 9 million won ($8,225) each, and those with partially destroyed houses will be provided with half that, officials said.

Officials also said they're also working to determine whether to designate Pohang a disaster zone.

The government has completed safety checks on 12 schools in Pohang to be used as venues for the state-administered college entrance exams to be held next week and will re-check five of them for potential safety problems.

The exams had originally been scheduled for Thursday but were postponed by a week due to the quake.

The government will also provide psychological treatment for victims, officials said. (Yonhap)