Kon Plông District, Central Highlands province of Kon Tum Province, a hot spot of earthquakes. — Photo vietnamplus.vn

HÀ NỘI — There were 27 earthquakes with magnitudes ranging from 2.5 to 3.7 in February, mostly in hotspots of Kon Tum Province.

According to the Earthquake Information and Tsunami Warning Centre under the Institute of Geophysics, among 27 earthquakes, nineteen were reported in Kon Plông District, Central Highlands province of Kon Tum and seven in Nam Trà My District of central Quảng Nam Province.

Other earthquakes occurred in Chương Mỹ District, Hà Nội.

Nam Trà My used to be an earthquake hotspot in 2012 when Tranh River 2 Hydropower Plant stored water to generate electricity.

On February 19, there were four consecutive earthquakes with magnitudes from 2.5 to 3.7 while there were three quakes with magnitudes from 3.1 to 3.4 on February 2.

In the first month of 2025, Kon Plông District and Nam Trà My District saw 32 earthquakes with magnitudes from 2.5 to 4.2.

Compared to January 2025, the earthquake frequency tended to decrease slightly in February with five fewer earthquakes.

According to the Institute of Geophysics, Nam Trà My District is located adjacent to Kon Plông District – a hot spot of stimulated earthquakes in the Central Highlands region.

Earthquakes have occurred frequently in Kon Plông since 2021.

Earthquakes in those areas are stimulated earthquakes, occurring due to the water accumulation process of hydroelectric reservoirs affecting the active fault system below. Some factors related to stimulated earthquakes such as reservoir water level, reservoir water accumulation rate and total water volume will affect earthquakes.

However, these effects can occur after a few months or a few years when they are sufficiently absorbed below, said experts.

Earthquakes in Kon Plông and Nam Trà My areas are forecast to continue and affect densely populated areas and key construction projects.

Local authorities have been asked to update information regularly to come up with earthquake-resistant design plans for all types of projects. — VNS