VietNamNet Bridge – The Geophysics Institute is about to build the first two earthquake alert stations of the total 30 planned stations with total investment of VND70 billion (over $4.3 million).

The two stations will be based in the northern mountainous province of Son La and the Central Highlands province of Lam Dong. 

The Institute has made surveys to find suitable sites to build the stations and has found ten places already. The first two stations in Son La and Lam Dong will be built by the Asian Natural Calamity Prevention Centre. The equipment imported from the US is worth hundreds of thousands of US dollars.

After the construction of the first stations, the Institute will install other stations throughout Vietnamese territory and on the islands of Phu Quoc, Con Dao and Phu Quy, etc.

Data collected from the two above stations will be transferred via a Thai satellite. After the whole earthquake alert system is completed, data will be conveyed via Vietnam’s Vinasat.

Vietnam currently has 24 earthquake monitoring stations, most of which are in the north, but only nine stations can directly transfer data to the parent centre in Hanoi. Most of these stations were built in the 1980s so they are outdated already. Some old stations will be improved.

The project to build 30 new earthquake alert stations will be implemented from 2009 to 2011. In addition, the Information Centre on Earthquakes and Tsunamis was set up and based inside the campus of the Geophysics Institute.