Around 21:00pm yesterday, many residents, who are living in tall buildings based in Hanoi capital, chaotically rushed outside shortly after they sensed shakes.

Lan, living in Van Quan urban center, along with her neighbors were frightened to venture outside when they felt minor tremors.

Thanh, living in Ciputra, said that he saw his paintings on wall shaking slightly for a moment while he himself couldn’t stand steady on his legs.

Hoang Van Tuan, living in Yen So, told VnExpress newswire that he could discern clear shakes when he read newspaper at 21:00 pm.

He added that all his family members sensed obvious wobbles.

Nguyen Xuan Quynh, a Hanoian, said: “At 21:15pm, when I was working in my home office, I felt minor tremors for a while.

At that time I thought I was just dazzled. But when I took a grip on myself, I realized that it was a quake, which just existed within 7-10 seconds. I still decided to stay inside because I didn’t want to scare my children.”

When the quake occurred, many residents chaotically took mats and blankets outside; some even crept onto their cars in an attempt to seek a safe shelter.

Several residents living in northern provinces of Thanh Hoa and Hai Duong near Hanoi also felt shakes.

Half an hour after the movements were over, many locals even daren’t return to their houses.

AFP reported that in Hanoi, the quake was felt as a smooth rocking motion that lasted for several seconds.

Some Hanoi residents described fleeing their homes in panic.

Nguyen Thi Hong Hanh, 36, who lives on the 10th floor of a highrise, said her husband noticed their pet fish shaking in their tank.

“We all rushed to the street. All the other people in the apartments also rushed out,” she was quoted by AFP as saying.

Dang Hoang Anh Thu, 36, said her 17th-floor apartment also shook enough to move pictures on the wall.

“We got out, and saw that all other people in the building were heading downstairs as well,” the university teacher said.

The city felt the tremor at about magnitude 5.0, according to Dinh Quoc Van, deputy head of the earthquake monitoring department, though there were no immediate reports of damage, reported AFP.

According to Xinhua, the earthquake measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale jolted Myanmar at 9:55 p.m.(Beijing Time) Thursday, according to the China Earthquake Network Center.

The epicenter, with a depth of 20 km, was monitored at 20.8 degrees north latitude and 99.8 degrees east longitude, the center said in a statement.

Witnesses said the tremors were felt in Bangkok, Myanmar and as far away as the Vietnam capital of Hanoi where people were evacuated from tall buildings, Reuters reported.

The quakes struck seconds apart at 1355 GMT and were centered 69 miles (111 km) north of the Thai town of Chiang Rai.

Source: Tuoi Tre/VNE