Dr. Le Huy Minh, Director of the institute’s Earthquake and Tsunami Warning Centre, said this morning (September 6), that a 3.5-richer earthquake occurred in the area of the hydropower plant area in the north of Bac Tra My District, Quang Nam Province.
Mr. Hung, a local resident, said the earthquake this morning was more violent than that on the evening of September 3, shaking the furniture of nearby households.
According to locals, the plant’s water storage is the cause of the recent earthquakes.
On September 5, the plant area saw two other earthquakes, but they were small and only recorded by accelerators.
Earlier, in the evening of September 3, six earthquakes also occurred at the hydro-power plant, with the biggest recorded at 20:46, measured at 4.2 Richter.
Mr. Dung, a resident in Nong Son District, said, “In the evening of September 3-4, locals also felt the ground shaking. Many houses and cement yards have seen cracks. The earthquakes caused cows and buffaloes to be panic and run to roads.”
Dr. Le Huy Minh said the earthquakes were a worrying phenomenon, and careful surveys should be conducted so that authorities can provide updates to locals.
Nguyen Hong Phuong, Deputy Director of the Earthquake and Tsunami Warning Centre, said the consecutive earthquakes are the result of water storage at Song Tranh 2 Hydro-power Plant. The area is forecasted to face stronger earthquakes in the coming time.
The National Centre for Hydro-meteorological Forecasting said due to impacts of Inter-tropical Convergence Zone, the central region is witnessing heavy rain and local hydro-power plants, including Song Tranh are storing water.
Dr. Minh said, this week, the Institute of Earth Physics will send a mission to Quang Nam Province to surveying the area surrounding the Song Tranh 2 Hydropower Plant in order to explore the causes of the earthquakes after a request from the Ministry of Sciences and Technology and Bac Tra My District authorities.
Thanh Tram - Cong Binh