Earthquakes Repeatedly Occur Surrounding Power Plant in Central Vietnam

A series of earthquakes repeatedly occurred in the surrounding areas of a hydropower plant in Vietnam’s central province of Quang Nam with the latest on July 8 was 3.6 on the Richter scale. The earthquakes happened in Bac Tra My district which is located Song Tranh 2 hydropower plant, totaling five cases since early June, affecting the people’s lives, the Institute of Geophysics said. Prof. Cao Dinh Trieu explained the phenomena for land fissures from Laos to Vietnam’s central region, covering Quang Nam, Quang Ngai, Thua Thien-Hue, and Binh Dinh. It is also attributed to the water storage in hydropower dams, he said, adding that the local authorities need to have plans to cope with the worsen situation. Earlier last year, the dam of Song Tranh 2 plant was found to have water leakage, triggering concerns over the safety of thousands of people in the lowland. On July 3, Prime Minister Nguyen Tan Dung asked the ministries to check the safety of all hydropower and irrigation dams ahead of rainy season. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development said that the country is home to more than 1,150 water lakes that are downgraded. (Vietnamplus.vn July 8, Infonet.vn July 4)