Hanoi shakes because of the quake 4

The Institute of Geophysics has just told VnExpress , 15h56 this afternoon in Hanoi happened a strong shock level 3-4 due to the impact of the 6.1 magnitude earthquake in the northern region of Laos. Thousands of people panicked and fled the buildings.

"With tremors at level 3-4, high-rise buildings will be shaken slightly, but it is impossible to destroy houses. People on the lower floors will not feel the commotion," said Nguyen Van Yen, officer. The Institute of Geophysics says. He also said that in Dien Bien, there was a strong shock at level 6.

Many areas of Hanoi suffered two slight shocks. People who are working in high-rise buildings most clearly feel the shaking, have fled out. Around 16:15, Ms. Nguyen Tu Anh, Director of the Card Center (Vietcombank), was evacuated outside the office, saying: "Nearly 16 o'clock, the building alarmed people to evacuate urgently."

Ms. Tu Anh recalled, before the alarm, everyone in the room noticed things were shaken, especially the computer screen. Particularly for Vietcombank, only officers who are responsible for preserving new objects and assets must keep them in order to carry out the storage procedures, all others immediately leave their headquarters with both stairs and elevators.

Office workers evacuated to the ground for fear of earthquakes.
Photo taken at 16h15 at 4A Lang Ha, Hanoi. (Photo: VNN)

This phenomenon also occurs in a series of other buildings in Hanoi such as Vincom Twin Towers (Ba Trieu Street), the Ministry of Finance Building (Tran Hung Dao Street), Melia (Ly Thuong Kiet Street) and Hoa Binh Tower ( Hoang Quoc Viet street, Tungshing (Ngo Quyen street). The streets of Ba Trieu, Lang Ha, Lo Duc, Dao Duy Anh, Ly Thuong Kiet . panicked people crowded the streets.

Nguyen Tien Dat, who is working on the 7th floor, No. 25 Ly Thuong Kiet Building, recounted: "Naturally, I have a feeling of dizziness, like a drop in blood pressure. There are also many people complaining in the room. So, no one thought it was an earthquake, it was only when one of the people ran in and called on the earthquake that everyone knew.

Mr. Dat said, vibrating about 2 times, each lasting a few tens of seconds. After a bit of anxiety, seeing the situation in peace, everyone in Dat's office returned to normal work.

At the 21-storey building Vincom (Ba Trieu street), thousands of employees followed the stairway to fall down the road due to earthquake fears. Ms. Minh, an employee of a travel company working on the 7th floor, recounted: "Feeling like seasickness, computers, table doors . shaking gently. Obviously curtains, no strong wind ".

Ms. Minh said, the 21-storey building is now empty, only the guards split up to look after the property. Many office workers could not even wear slippers, crowded into the elevator to get down the road.

Earthquake center (red) occurs in Laos.

Talking to VnExpress , Director of the Institute of Geophysics Nguyen Ngoc Thuy said that Vietnam is likely to have earthquakes of more than 7 Richter scale. In 1983 at Tuan Giao (Lai Chau) there was an earthquake of 6.7 Richter scale. In 2001, there was also an earthquake in Dien Bien which damaged thousands of rooftops. The latest earthquake occurred in Do Luong (Nghe An) in 2006. In Hanoi, earthquakes have not occurred in recent centuries but only earthquakes.

History has noted that Hanoi used to happen earthquakes, but since the 12th century, the earthquake has broken a couple of stone steles at Bao Thien pagoda (the big church area of ​​Hanoi today), the tremor reached level 8. . "The earthquake cycle in Vietnam is up to 1,000 years, so it is difficult for a human life to witness earthquakes twice," said Nguyen Van Yêm, official of the Institute of Geophysics.

Director of Inspection Department (Ministry of Construction) Tran Chu said that, according to Vietnam standards, all buildings with 9 floors or more must study and design the level 7 earthquake response, in addition to having the projected coefficient certain safe storage. The design of the building to be adopted must ensure this standard.

The explanation of the buildings in Hanoi only met the requirements of earthquake resistance at level 7, a construction expert said: "Because earthquakes at the maximum level rarely occur, only solid works new earthquake-resistant design at this level ".

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