Magnitude 4.7 quake hit northern Vietnamese province
A province in northern Vietnam was struck by an earthquake measuring a magnitude of 4.7 on the Richter scale on April 23, according to a local seismic station.
The quake occurred at 6:01 am in Muong Nhe District, Dien Bien Province, and lasted about five seconds, according to the Dien Bien Phu Seismic Observation Station.
No immediate reports of damage were issued following the tremor, officials said.
The temblor is the third seismic activity to have been recorded in the province this year, Nguyen Thai Son, head of the provincial seismic observation station, said.
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| The red star in this photo marks the epicenter of the earthquake that hit Muong Nhe District in Dien Bien, a northern province of Vietnam, on April 23, 2016. |
The quake’s epicenter was located at a depth of 15km underground in Quang Lam and Nam Ke Communes.
At such a level and duration of seismic activity, the quake would cause cracks and fractures in houses and buildings near the epicenter, Son noted.
Nguyen Cong Dinh, a resident living in Muong Nhe Town, recounted, “When the quake occurred, houses were shaken, with glasses and bottles clinking.”
“Many rushed outside for fear of aftershocks,” Dinh said.
A magnitude 4.4 quake rocked Muong Pon Commune, Dien Bien District, on January 21, the station said, adding that a tremor measuring a magnitude of 2.6 on the Richter scale had shaken Tuan Giao District on January 13.
