Nguyen Thai Son, head of the Dien Bien Phu City’s Seismic Monitoring Station

The earthquake’s centre was at a depth of 10km in Muong Ang district, with shocks lasting about four seconds, said Nguyen Thai Son, head of the Dien Bien Phu City’s Seismic Monitoring Station.

Residents in Muong Thanh and Muong Ang districts, Dien Bien Phu city, said they clearly felt tremors. However, there is yet any report on damage on houses or buildings.

Just one day earlier, on January 8, a 3.9-magnitude earthquake hit the province about more than 10km from Muong Ang district.

Last year, Dien Bien province was struck by seven earthquakes in different areas in districts of Dien Bien, Muong Cha, Dien Bien Dong, Tuan Giao and Tua Chau and Muong Lay township with the magnitude ranging from 2.1 to 3.9 on the Richter scale.

According to Son, quakes are normal in the mountainous province of Dien Bien as it is situated on the fault systems of Dien Bien – Lai Chau and Song Ma – Son La.

Over the past 100 years, three big earthquakes with magnitudes of over 5 on the Richter scale were recorded in Dien Bien, one in 1935 (magnitude of 6.9), another in 1983 (magnitude of 6.7) and the latest in 2001 (magnitude of 5.3).-

Source: VNA - Bridge