Thousands of residents in Ly Son Island in Quang Ngai Province fled for shelter on September 11, after a rumour on a possible tsunami spread.
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| Ly Son Island |
Tran Ngoc Nguyen, Charman of Ly Son District said that the rumour of a coming storm was started around midnight on September 10 and quickly spread.
“We were in bed when we suddenly heard our neighbourers scream, \'A tsunami is going to hit the island!\' When I asked them what was going on, they said that a tsunami was on the because of an earthquake in the Philippines," said Nguyen Huu Son, a local resident.
Son then woke up his entire family and made them all leave the house. He said that many other residents of the island also headed for the mountains.
According to Nguyen, after hearing about a possible tsunami, he checked the information with the Quang Ngai provincial centre authorities, who said that the rumour was not true.
District officials checked by radio to reassure local residents, he said.
He added that they are checking into the possibility that the rumour could have been intentionally started by a few individuals who wanted to take advantage of families leaving their homes so that they could steal property.
Nguyen said, "The local police are cooperating with border guards to find out exactly who spread the false information."
He added that there was a similar incident last year, which caused needles panic.