After the earthquake of more than 7 on the Richter scale in Myanmar on the afternoon of March 28, Ho Chi Minh City recorded widespread earthquakes in many areas, especially in high-rise buildings. In the Diamond Riverside apartment area (District 8), many corridors on the floors were covered with floor tiles and walls, and apartments were recorded to be cracked.
Recorded at Ms. Hien's apartment (60 years old) on the 15th floor, there were 4 cracks in the wall after the earthquake, of which one was more than 1 m long in the living room, 2 cracks appeared in the bedroom and skylight area. Previously, Ms. Hien's apartment had never been damaged or showed signs of cracking since moving in 2021.
"When the earthquake occurred, my children all went to work, only I and my grandchild were at home. I was sleeping when I suddenly felt dizzy and shivering, then saw the bathroom door and many items in the house starting to shake. I was scared and ran down to the ground and only dared to return home a few hours later when the shaking stopped," said Ms. Hien.
In a nearby apartment of Mr. Kim Luan (37 years old), 3 cracks also appeared, of which 1 large crack appeared on the living room wall and 2 other cracks appeared in the area adjacent to the hallway and bedroom.
"After the earthquake quake ended, my father and I discovered many cracks on the walls, especially in the area adjacent to the corridor and bedroom. Some locations of the walls are still peeling, the paint layers and tiles in the corridor also show signs of peeling off," said Mr. Luan.
Mr. Nguyen Thanh Binh, - representative of the Apartment Management Board - said that after the earthquake, the Management Board received a series of reports about peeling walls, ceilings, and bricks in the house.
"According to preliminary statistics as of the afternoon of March 29, 342/1,700 apartments had cracked walls, some corridors, peeling rooftops, and inflated floors. The cracks are scattered across 4 blocks, with different levels of damage," said Mr. Binh.
According to Mr. Binh, after the earthquake occurred, the Apartment Management Board and local authorities inspected the entire infrastructure system and worked with residents to record and count the damage. In addition, the apartment side has also sent a list of affected apartments to the apartment's insurance unit to consider the cause and propose solutions.
A representative of District 8 People's Committee said that after the earthquake, the district received many complaints from residents about the cracked wall at Diamond Riverside apartment building. Immediately afterwards, the district directed the People's Committee of Ward 16 to coordinate with the Urban Management Department to conduct a survey, working with the Apartment Management Board to assess the level of impact.
Initial results show that the structure of the project is still guaranteed, but many apartments have cracks. Local authorities continue to monitor and inspect the situation to have a more detailed assessment. In addition to Diamond Riverside apartment building, the district also reviewed other areas, but did not record similar conditions. To determine the exact cause, there needs to be an inspection from a specialized unit.
