Hanoi may face earthquakes at the highest levels of 8 or 9 of the extermination grade, said the Deputy Director of the Earthquake Notification & Tsunami Warning Centre, Dr. Nguyen Hong Phuong.

Houses destroyed by earthquake in China.

Dr. Phuong released the above information at the workshop entitled “Earthquake Danger in Vietnam” held on March 12 in Hanoi.

The areas prone to the risk of earthquakes in Hanoi are the districts of Ba Dinh, Hoan Kiem, Dong Da, and parts of the Thanh Xuan and Hoang Mai districts.

The areas that may face level 8 earthquakes are Thanh Tri District, the area along the Red River in the districts of Hoan Kiem, Hai Ba Trung, and Hoang Mai. The reasoning is based on the weak soil structure of these areas.

At the workshop, President Tran Duc Luong said Vietnam can’t be assured with the safety of big dams and reservoirs which are located in the areas of high risk of earthquakes like Hoa Binh, Son La, and Thac Ba.

A group of researchers from the Geophysics Institute designed three scripts of earthquakes in Hoan Kiem District, Hanoi. In the first script, with a small earthquake, around 30% of construction works in this area would be destroyed.

In the second script, under a 6.5 Richter magnitude earthquake caused by the Vinh Ninh fault in Thanh Tri District, 40% of houses would be destroyed.

In the last script, under a 6.5 Richter magnitude earthquake at the Hoan Kiem Lake, between 80-100% of houses would be destroyed.

The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development is going to submit to the government a project to raise the community awareness over the prevention of natural calamities. Under this project, students in all areas prone to tremors will be provided with knowledge about earthquakes.

There are 30 regions in Vietnam where may have earthquakes, ranging between 5.5-6.8 Richter magnitudes.

VietNamNet/TP