According to Nguyen Thai Son, head of the Dien Bien seismic monitoring station, the earthquake was reported at around 5 am in Muong Nhe District, roughly 120 km from the centre of Dien Bien Phu City.
A corner of Dien Bien Province
Since early this year, the province witnessed eight earthquakes, including four in Muong Nhe and four in Dien Bien Dong districts. The strongest was measured at 4.0 and the weakest 2.5.
Most recently on August 27, a magnitude 3.3 earthquake took place in Nam Ke Commune, Muong Nhe District.
Last year, the province experienced six earthquakes.
According to provincial statistics, Dien Bien has recorded three large earthquakes - 6.75 magnitude in 1935, 6.8 magnitude in 1983 and 5.3 magnitude in 2001. However, no heavy damage occurred.