Magnitude-4.2 earthquake strikes Vietnam’s Kon Tum

The Institute of Earth Sciences is continuing to monitor the seismic activity.

The quake occurred at 11:57 am, at a recorded depth of some 8.1 kilometers, said Nguyen Xuan Anh, director of the center.

The tremor was classified as level-zero natural disaster risk.

Earlier that day, at 1:56 am, a smaller magnitude-2.6 earthquake was recorded in Nam Tra My District in Quang Nam Province, a neighbor of Kon Tum Province.

It occurred at a similar depth and did not pose any danger or cause damage.

Two quakes with a magnitude of 2.6 were reported in Kon Plong District on Friday.

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.