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Earthquake rocks Son La and impacts capital city
  • | dtinews.vn | November 27, 2009 03:44 PM
At 11.50am, November 26, an earthquake measuring 4.0 on the Richter scale hit Son La Province, making people panic and causing a little shake in Hanoi.
 
Realising an earthquake occurring, many people brought their kids out of their houses to avoid a possible collapse. They only got back inside after about half an hour, when no more tremors were felt.
 
 
No effects on Son La hydroelectric power plant after the earthquake
 
DTiNews’ correspondents present in some public areas in Son La talked to people. Tam, a shop owner in Son La market said: “Suddenly the ground became rocking. At first I did not know what was going on, but when I saw others rambling, I rushed out of my store.” 
 
“If we were noticed in advance about this earthquake, we would be less panic,” added Tam.
 
This is not the first time an earthquake occurs in Son La. A strong one happened a few years ago that caused the National Road No 6 to depress.
 
Hung, who lives in Heo village, told DTiNews: “I was at home and my house was shocking badly. I rushed out while screaming to rush my family to get out.”
 
After the incident, many people realised that their knowledge on how to respond to an earthquake was so limited. 
 
Ha Van Lon, deputy manager of Bac Yen District’s Flood Prevention and Disaster Reduction Department told us: “We ourselves were caught off guard. Luckily, there is no report on injury so far.”
 
“The earthquake has affected some areas in Son La for a very short time thus people did not feel it in some places. Still, the authority should send alert in advance so people will be less panic,” said Tran Viet Phuong, a staff at Son La’s Flood Prevention and Disaster Reduction Centre.
 
According to the Earthquake Observation Department under the Institute of Geological Sciences, the earthquake occurred at 10 to 15 kilometres underground. At the same time, some people working in high rise buildings in Hanoi could feel the tremor for 2 to 3 minutes.
 
Le Huy Minh, director of the Earthquake and Tsunami Alert Centre said under the MSK scale, the earthquake’s magnitude was quite low and could not cause any serious damages in Son La and Hanoi.
 
Experts predict that Vietnam will not suffer from serious earthquakes in the next hundreds of years.