Kon Tum braces itself for more earthquakes after 21 hit locality in a day

However, there will be no more powerful earthquake than the 5.0 magnitude one that struck Kon Plong district of the province on July 28, said Nguyen Xuan Anh, director of the Earthquake and Tsunami Warning Centre.

As many as 11 more earthquakes and seismic waves were documented by the earthquake and tsunamis watchdog on July 29 morning.

The 5.0 magnitude earthquake hit Kon Plong district at noon with its epicentre at a depth of approximately 8.5km.

Though the most powerful earthquake did not pose any disaster risk, objects in local residents near the earthquake epicenter fell and broke.

Many neighbouring localities such as Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam, Binh Dinh, and Phu Yen felt intense shaking for a little while. Mild shaking was even recorded in Ho Chi Minh City.

Statistics unveiled by the Institute of Geophysics show there were only more than 30 earthquakes jolting Kon Tum province between 1903 to 2020, with the largest one measuring 3.9 on the Richter scale.

But hundreds of earthquakes have occurred in Kon Tum from April 2021 until now, including a 4.7 magnitude earthquake that shook the locality on August 22, 2022.

Over the past days, prolonged heavy rain in the Central Highlands region has caused hydroelectric reservoirs to fill quickly, triggering earthquakes, said Anh.

It is predicted that earthquakes will continue to hit Kon Tum in the near future, but they are unlikely to be larger than 5.5 degrees, said the director, adding detailed studies are needed to evaluate earthquakes in that area.

According to the director, the Institute of Geophysics is deploying 11 monitoring stations in Kon Tum to conduct in-depth research and evaluate earthquakes in this locality.