13 earthquakes rattle Vietnam’s Quang Nam, Kon Tum in under 24 hours

Nguyen Xuan Anh, director of the center under the Institute of Earth Sciences, said on Monday that the seismic activity included four tremors in Nam Tra My District between midnight and 4:35 am on Monday, with magnitudes ranging from 2.5 to 3.0.

Kon Plong District recorded one quake during the same period, registering a magnitude of 3.4.

All the five quakes occurred at a focal depth of approximately 8.1 kilometers and were classified as level-zero natural disaster risk.

On Sunday, eight earthquakes hit the two districts, with magnitudes ranging from 2.5 to 4.2.

The strongest event, measuring 4.2 on the Richter scale, struck Kon Plong District at 11:57 am.

The center confirmed that none of the recent quakes reached levels likely to cause damage.

It is continuing to monitor the seismic activity in the region.

Since April 2021, hundreds of earthquakes have rattled Kon Tum Province, most centered around Kon Plong District.

Some have caused mild shaking over a wider area.

The most powerful quake with a magnitude of five was recorded on July 28, 2024, while an earlier event took place on August 23, 2022, reaching a magnitude of 4.7.

Anh attributed the continued seismic activity to ‘induced earthquakes.’

“Preliminary studies suggest earthquakes will likely continue in Kon Tum in the coming time, though they are unlikely to exceed magnitude-5.5,” he said.

More in-depth research is urgently needed to better understand seismic activity in the region.

In Vietnam, earthquakes between magnitude-2.0 and -4.0 are considered weak.

Those in the 2.0–3.0 range are usually only faintly felt and cause no damage, with over a million such events occurring worldwide annually.

Earthquakes between magnitude-3.0 and -4.0 are slightly more noticeable and may cause minor vibrations indoors, but they rarely cause damage.

Globally, more than 100,000 such quakes occur each year.