Viet Nam’s coastline is not in danger of being struck by a tsunami following an earthquake in southern Taiwan, according to the National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting and the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control.
In a meeting with Sai Gon Giai Phong newspaper, Nguyen Ngoc Thuy, the Director of Ha Noi’s Institute of Geophysics, said that monitoring stations have given no indication of tsunami activity threatening Viet Nam.
As a result, coastal residents have been informed that it is safe to return home or to work.
The earthquake, measuring 7.2 points on the Richter scale, occurred on Tuesday night at 7.34 pm and was reported by the Japanese Meteorological Agency’s Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
Viet Nam’s National Center for Hydro-Meteorological Forecasting and the Central Committee for Flood and Storm Control subsequently issued a tsunami warning for the Viet Nam coastline from the central province of Quang Binh to the southern-most province of Ca Mau.
After learning of the potentially hazardous situation, Deputy Prime Minister Nguyen Sinh Hung met with Flood and Storm Center officials to request they keep a close watch on the situation and propose measures should a tsunami occur.
After receiving the tsunami warning, provincial authorities ordered residents living along the coastline to evacuate and instructed seagoing vessels to seek shelter.
Soldiers were also placed on standby for search and rescue operations.
