VietNamNet Bridge – An earthquake struck the Bac Tra My Commune near the Song Tranh 2 hydropower plant in the central Quang Nam Province today, the local authorities said.

A resident in Bac Tra My commune shows the crack in her house caused by earthquake in 2011. The area of the Song Tranh 2 hydropower plant has been rocked by hundreds of quakes since 2011. — Photo 24h.com.vn

The quake shook the commune for a few seconds at 3.25am, but no serious damage has been reported so far, Huynh Ngoc Thieu, deputy head of the Bac Tra My Flood Prevention and Control Office, confirmed.

The Earthquake and Tsunami Warning Centre, under the Institute of Geophysics, is continuously monitoring the earthquake.

The people living in the communes of Tra Doc, Tra Bui, Tra Giac and Tra My, located 6km from the Song Tranh hydropower plant, felt the tremors.

Experts from the institute had concluded that the series of tremors hitting the area was due to seismic activity caused by the water stored in the hydropower plant reservoir.

Experts also confirmed that the magnitude of the earthquakes had not exceeded the limits of the reservoir's ability to withstand quakes.

The area of the Song Tranh 2 hydropower plant has been rocked by hundreds of quakes since 2011. The strongest quake recorded so far was one measuring 4.7 on the Richter scale three years ago. It affected 13 districts and townships in Quang Nam, and damaged more than 1,000 houses and 20 public sites.

VNS