Vietnam suffers a strong earthquake of magnitude 5-6

The strong earthquake of 7 Richter scale occurred at the border of Myanmar - Laos - Thailand, making Northern Vietnam suffer from a shock of level 5-6. The risk of strong earthquakes in Vietnam continues to be warned.

Dr. Le Huy Minh, Deputy Director of the Institute of Geophysics, Director of the Center for Earthquake Reporting Center and Tsunami Warning, said the magnitude 7 earthquake occurred at 20h55 on March 24 in the region. Myanmar - Laos - Thailand border has shocked the 5th level in Hanoi. A number of places in the Northwest region of our country also suffered concussion level 6.

Earthquakes occurred at the position of coordinates 20.86 latitude North, 100.87 degrees East longitude, the depth of drainage was about 10km. This is a strong earthquake in the epicenter, however, the center is located far away from Hanoi, so it is unlikely to cause damage to people and construction works.

Image of epicenter in Myanmar (Photo: Vietnam Post Office)

According to Mr. Minh, with earthquakes with magnitudes of more than 7 on the Richter scale, Thailand will suffer heavy losses. The Geophysical Institute is currently monitoring this earthquake.

Regarding the risk of earthquakes that may occur in Vietnam, Mr. Minh said, our country is located in the Southeast part of the Eurasian Plate, between the Indian Plate, the Philippine Plate and the Australian Plate, which is less vulnerable to earthquakes compared to regional countries such as Indonesia, Philippines, Malaysia. But in the territory and territorial waters of Vietnam, there exist complex faults system such as: Lai Chau - Dien Bien fault, Song Ma fault, Son La fault, Song Hong fault zone, Song Ca fault zone. , 109-110o meridian fracture . so the possibility of strong earthquakes has been warned.

Scientific studies have been recorded, from the beginning of the 20th century up to now in the Northern region, there have been 2 earthquakes of level 8-9, equivalent to 6.7-6.8 Richter scale, dozens of matches level 7 earthquakes, equivalent to 5.1-5.5 Richter scale and hundreds of weaker earthquakes.

Typically, the earthquake occurred in Dien Bien in 1935, with a magnitude 6.7, occurring in the Song Ma fault zone; the earthquake in Tuan Giao in 1983, with intensity of 6.8 Richter scale, occurred on Son La fault, causing landslides, large-scale soil cracks, large landslides in the mountain, damaging houses in the area micro radius to 35 km .

The small earthquakes that occurred after the earthquake in Dien Bien did not cause damage to people and people, but also showed that the Earth's crust in Vietnam region is not completely stable. According to Mr. Minh, more monitoring and research is needed to fully assess seismic activity in Vietnam.