Phu Yen Online - Storm Mocha destroys 12,000 houses as it sweeps through Bangladesh

* South Korea records strongest earthquake this year

Cyclone Mocha, which swept across Myanmar and southeastern Bangladesh on May 14, has caused extensive damage. The strongest storm to hit the Bay of Bengal in more than 10 years, with winds of up to 321 km/h, the storm completely or partially damaged at least 12,000 houses as it swept across Cox's Bazar and its offshore islands.

Meanwhile, about 500 tents, temporary shelters for nearly 1 million Rohingya refugees, were also damaged, but there was no information about casualties.

A local official, Shaheen Imran, said the storm also damaged crops and uprooted many large trees. Authorities are currently gathering information through official channels regarding the loss of life and property caused by the storm in remote areas.

Speaking to reporters, Secretary of State for Disaster Management and Rescue (DMRER), Mr. Enamur Rahman said the agency is taking appropriate measures to assist the affected people in Cox's Bazar, where hundreds of thousands of people have been evacuated.

Local television showed widespread flooding on Saint Martin's Island in Cox's Bazar province, about 300km southeast of the capital Dhaka. Thousands of people have been evacuated.

Late on May 14, the storm passed through Bangladesh and gradually weakened as it entered the mountainous inland areas of Myanmar.

In Myanmar, communications with the coastal town of Sittwe, in Rakhine state, were largely cut off after the storm. Streets in the town of 150,000 people turned into rivers. Thousands of people have fled Sittwe to safer ground since May 13, but are struggling with shortages of basic goods. At least three people have died.

The Myanmar Red Cross Society said it was preparing a large-scale emergency response operation. According to the Myanmar National Meteorological Office, late on May 14, Cyclone Mocha moved north towards Chin State.

* According to Yonhap news agency, the Korea Meteorological Administration said that at 6:27 a.m. on May 15, local time, a 4.5-magnitude earthquake occurred. This is the strongest earthquake this year in the Korean Peninsula and neighboring sea areas, and the 35th in the same area in the past 3 weeks. There is currently no information about damage. The risk of a tsunami is also considered low, considering the scale of the earthquake.

However, experts do not rule out the possibility of a stronger earthquake. According to the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA), the earthquake occurred in the sea 52km northeast of Donghae City (Gangwon Province), at a depth of 32km, deeper than previous times by only about 10km.

Not only people in Donghae and neighboring cities such as Samcheok and Gangneung, but also people in many other areas 110km away such as Yeongju City and Andong in the southeast felt the tremors.

This year, the Korean Peninsula and surrounding waters recorded 44 earthquakes with magnitudes above 2. Of these, 37 were magnitudes 2-3, 6 were magnitudes 3-4, and this is the first time it exceeded magnitude 4.

According to KMA statistics, from 1978 to now, there have been a total of 28 earthquakes with a magnitude of over 4.5 occurring on the Korean Peninsula and neighboring waters. The most recent was a magnitude 4.9 earthquake on December 14, 2021, in the sea 41km west-southwest of Seogwipo City, Jeju Island.

The northeastern sea has been hit by 35 earthquakes since April 23, including those with a magnitude of less than 2.

Following the May 15 earthquake, the Ministry of the Interior and Safety of South Korea raised the earthquake risk alert to "attention" after lowering it to "concern" on April 25. The agency also set up an earthquake emergency response team and strengthened post-quake management.

T.LE (compiled from VNA/Vietnam+)

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