VietNamNet Bridge – An earthquake measuring 3.3 on the Richter scale hit the Song Tranh Hydropower Plant No 2 reservoir in Quang Nam Province's mountainous Bac Tra My District about 2am yesterday.

A reservoir holds water used for operating Song Tranh Hydropower Plant No 2 in the mountainous district of Bac Tra My in Quang Nam Province. An earthquake measuring 3.3 on the Richter scale hit the reservoir about 2am yesterday. — VNS Photo Cong Thanh

It's the first earthquake of 2016.

An official from the district people's committee in the central province said the quake did not cause any damage.

According to the Ha Noi-based Earthquake and Tsunami Warning Centre under the Institute of Geophysics, the epicentre of the quake lay 8km below the reservoir.

Director of the hydropower plant Vu Duc Toan said the quake did not cause any damage to the reservoir and that the hydropower plant was operating safely.

Toan said the reservoir's water level was 174m, one metre below the maximum level.

Several earthquakes measuring 2.6 to 3.6 on the Richter scale struck in the area in 2015.

The largest quake to be recorded so far measured 4.7 on the Richter scale in 2012.

Experts concluded in 2012 that the series of tremors occurring in the area were due to seismic activities caused by water stored in the hydropower plant reservoir, and that their magnitude was not greater than the reservoir's capacity to withstand quakes (of up to 5.5 magnitude).

About 25 tremors were recorded near the hydropower plant from October 3 to November 16 in 2012.

Bac Tra My District, 52km from Quang Nam's capital Tam Ky, is home to more than 20,000 people, mostly of the Co Tu ethnic group, who live in five communes.

VNS