An earthquake measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale rocked Moc Chau district in the northern mountainous province of Son La at 5.31am on August 1 (Photo: Institute of Geophysics)

The epicentre of the earthquake was registered at a depth of 8.1km in Moc Chau district, with the event being just one of a series of earthquakes that have hit Son La over the past six days.

Nguyen Xuan Anh, director of the Institute of Geophysics, said an earthquake measuring 5.3 on the Richter scale which occurred at 12:14 am on July 27 caused damage to public property in the region, although no significant damage was reported subsequently as a result of earthquakes over the following days.

According to Anh, the array of consecutive earthquakes to hit Moc Chau recently can largely be attributed to the fact that the region is situated on the fault zone of Da river, with relatively strong geological activities occurring on a regular basis.

Assoc. Prof. Dr. Cao Dinh Trieu, director of the Institute of Applied Geophysics, said many tremors will occur in the aftermath of earthquakes, especially those measuring over a magnitude of five. Indeed, it is even possible that up to hundreds of tremors will occur, the majority of which will have little impact on the area. VOV