VietNamNet Bridge – “Of the 25 tsunami scenarios in the East Sea that can threaten Vietnam, the most dangerous and possible quakes are the ones may come from subduction in the western Philippines,” according to Dr. Le Huy Minh, Deputy chief of the Geophysics Institute.

Dr. Le Huy Minh, Deputy chief of the Geophysics Institute.

Which areas in Vietnam can have quakes?

There are some areas where quakes often happen, such as the northwestern region, with the Lai Chau – Dien Bien, Lo and Ma river faults; the northeastern region with the Cao Bang – Tan Yen fault; the central region with the Ca river fault; the southern central region with the fault along meridian 110 and the Thuan Hai – Minh Hai fault. Many small quakes occurred on these faults in 2010.

How about tsunamis in the East Sea?

Tsunamis can appear in the East Sea. Of the 25 tsunami scenarios in the East Sea that can affect Vietnam, the most dangerous and possible threat comes from earthquakes born from the subduction of the western Philippines.

A quake of 8.2 Richter scale happened in this area but it didn’t cause a tsunami because the strate there didn’t move vertically. In theory, quakes of 6.5 Richter scale upwards can cause tsunamis.

Tsunamis can also be caused by quakes at the offshore Thuan Hai – Minh Hai fault in the southern central region but the probability is very low. The strongest quake in this area is 6.1 Richter scale so far.

What can we learn from the disaster in Japan?

Nobody can predict natural disasters. Japan is a developed country with the most modern observing network but it has still suffered great losses from quakes and tsunamis.

However, we must have a tsunami warning system and a good observation network to track quakes immediately after they occur. From this information we can work out whether the quake will cause a tsunami or not.

We are building natural observation stations in the central region where storms often occur.

The second point is that warnings should be issued quickly. The role of media is very important to that end.

The third point is giving people guidance on how to cope with natural disasters.

According to the Institute for Geophysics, Vietnam is in an area with many geological quirks and faults. However, it doesn’t suffer many earthquakes. The strongest quakes were recorded in Dien Bien in 1935 (6.7 Richter scale) and in Tuan Giao – Lai Chau in 1983 (6.8 Richter scale).

PV