VietNamNet Bridge – On the evening of September 3, quakes occurred in Bac Tra My town and neighboring communes in the central province of Quang Nam, scaring local residents. These are reservoir induced quakes.

Crack appears on the wall of a house in Bac Tra My district
after the quakes last night.

“At around 9pm, I felt strong shake. I shouted to inform other family members. The quake lasted for four minutes. Our door and windows shook violently like being swept away by a whirlwind. We had to shelter ourselves under the bed and tables,” said Ms. Tran Thi Hanh, a resident of Bac Tra My Town.

Local people said that the second quake occurred several minutes later and it was stronger than the first. Many people ran out of their houses to stand on the road.

“My floor shook continuously. Objects on the table fell down to the ground,” said Mr. Ho Van Loi, Chair of Tra Doc commune, Bac Tra My district.

Chair Dang Phong of Bac Tra My district confirmed that 4-5 quakes happened in the district on September 3 evening. They were the strongest quakes so far. The quakes covered larger area, including Tra My town and nearby communes.

According to the Geo-physic Institute, up to six quakes happened continuously around Song Tranh 2 hydro-power plant on the evening of September 3. The strongest quake was measured at 4.2 on the Richter scale. The remaining quakes were less than 2 Richter.

The Song Tranh 2 dam.

The institute’s Prof. Cao Dinh Trieu told VNExpress that the quakes were possibly induced by the sudden discharge of water or the sudden raise of water level in the Song Tranh 2 reservoir.

“Song Tranh 2 dam is designed to resist against quakes op up to 6 Richter, so the quakes last night could not affect the dam,” Prof. Trieu said.

Previously, explosions and quakes of around 3.5 Richter were reported in Bac Tra My and Nam Tra My districts of Quang Nam province. According to the Geophysics Institute, these are quakes that are induced by faults under the reservoir of Song Tranh 2 hydro-power plant. Scientists say that this is a normal phenomenon and it will not happen again after a period of time.

However, Bac Tra My district’s Chairman Dang Phong said that local people were very worried of the quakes. Many ethnic minority families who lived near the Song Tranh 2 plant moved deep into the forest.

Local officials met with the Ministry of Construction’s representatives today, September 4, to discuss the matter.

Mr. Tran Van Hai, chief manager of the Hydro Power Project Management Board No. 3, asked experts to collect data from quake supervision equipment around the Song Tranh plant for further analysis of the phenomenon.

The Ministry of Construction will send its experts to Bac Tra My to investigate the phenomenon.

Compiled by T. Van