According to the announcement of the Institute of Geophysics, at 8:44 PM on May 18, an earthquake of magnitude 5.2 occurred in Liuzhou city, Guangxi province, China - about 294km from the Vietnamese border. Epicenter depth is about 10km, disaster risk level is 0.
The Earthquake and Tsunami Warning Center of the Earth Sciences Institute said it is continuing to monitor this earthquake.
After the earthquake in China, many people in the North such as Hanoi, Quang Ninh, Hai Phong, Cao Bang also said they felt a slight shaking in the evening of May 18, especially in apartment buildings and high-rise buildings.
Previously on the same day, the Institute of Geophysics also recorded 2 consecutive earthquakes in the Mang But commune area, Quang Ngai province. The earthquakes had magnitudes of 3.1 and 2.5 respectively, with a focal depth of about 8.1km. Both have a disaster risk level of 0.
According to Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cao Dinh Trieu - Director of the Institute of Applied Geophysics, tremors from earthquakes occurring in the area can spread to many localities in Vietnam, especially in urban areas with many high-rise buildings.
According to experts, most earthquakes with low risk levels will cause less serious damage. However, this is also a warning for Vietnam to continue to improve its capacity for monitoring, forecasting and early warning to proactively respond to unusual natural disaster phenomena.
Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cao Dinh Trieu said that Vietnam needs to synchronously implement many solutions to proactively respond to the risk of earthquakes and tsunamis. This includes researching historical documents on natural disasters, identifying areas with potential dangerous earthquakes in the East Sea, and building wave propagation models with higher detail.
The Director of the Institute of Applied Geophysics also said that it is necessary to continue investing in early warning systems, supplementing data on seabed terrain and improving flood risk forecasting capabilities when tsunamis occur.
Experts recommend that people should not panic when mild shaking appears, and at the same time need to monitor information from functional agencies and equip themselves with knowledge to respond when earthquakes occur.
