VietNamNet Bridge – A 5.2 Richter Scale earthquake was recorded by the Institute for Geophysics at 2am of December 31.

Mr. Quoc Tuan from Son La city said his home was strongly shaken at around 2am. His wife and son were very scared and they intended to get out of the house. “But I thought the earthquake was minor so I calmed them down. This morning I read the newspaper and found out it was a strong one,” Tuan said.

In Song Ma district in the northern province of Son La, where the earthquake center was recorded, Nguyen Van Hieu, a local official, said the tile roof of his apartment shook violently. Everybody called to each other to run away from their rooms.

“My apartment is located in a low area and it is a one-storey house so I could only feel the ground and the roof shaking. My neighbors who live on the second and third floors said that they were leaned for nearly a minute,” Hieu said.

Son La, Southeast Asia’s largest hydro-power plant, which is 150km from Song Ma district, was not affected by the earthquake, reported deputy director Nguyen Dinh Thao.

People in Dien Bien Dong district in Dien Bien province also felt the vibration.

Le Huy Minh, director of the Center for Earthquake and Tsunami Warning Information of the Institute of Geophysics, said that the earthquake occurred at around 2am in Song Ma district, Son La province. At 4:40am, Son La and Dien Bien province were hit by a 4 Richter scale aftershock.

Son La and Dien Bien officials said that there is no damage reported.

Earthquakes are often recorded in Son La province since the province is located on the Ma river fault. The earthquake this morning was the strongest so far this year.

The strongest earthquake in Son La so far is 6.8 Richter scale.

PV