According to local Vietnamese media reports, from midnight on the 28th to the morning of the 29th, 11 earthquakes occurred in Kon Plong District, Kon Tum Province, in south-central Vietnam. On July 28, 21 earthquakes occurred in the area, meaning the region suffered 32 earthquakes in just 24 hours.

According to the Institute of Geophysics of Vietnam, at around 7 a.m. on July 29, the 10th earthquake, of magnitude 2.6, occurred in Kon Plong District, Kon Tum Province, with a focal depth of about 8.1 km and a natural disaster risk level of 0.Afterward, the Institute of Geophysics also released news of the 11th earthquake to occur in the area. But previously, on July 28, Kon Tum Province had already suffered 21 earthquakes.

Among the earthquakes recorded by the Institute of Geophysics, the most severe was a magnitude 5.0 earthquake that occurred at around 11:30 a.m., classified as a level 2 natural disaster risk. It was the strongest earthquake ever recorded, causing shaking across a large area including the Central Highlands and many central provinces. Shaking was also felt farther away in Hue, Da Nang, Quang Nam and elsewhere. In addition, even people living in Ubon Ratchathani and Sakon Nakhon in northeastern Thailand felt the tremors.

In Kon Plong District, Kon Tum Province, where the earthquakes mainly occurred, many houses collapsed due to the shaking, and the government has issued a level-2 natural disaster risk warning for this earthquake. At present, in just two days from July 28 to 29, the region experienced 32 earthquakes of different magnitudes and focal depths, but experts have determined that the number of detected earthquakes has not stopped, so they are continuing to monitor this earthquake.

According to the Vietnam Institute of Geophysics, the cause of the earthquakes is human activity, such as the construction of reservoirs, hydropower dams, mining, nuclear explosions, etc., and this magnitude-5 earthquake is related to reservoir-induced earthquakes.

In addition, the former deputy director of the Institute of Geophysics said that Kon Tum Province will continue to experience earthquakes in the near future, but the magnitude is unlikely to exceed 5.5, and because Kon Tum Province is located on a strong fault zone, according to the geological characteristics of the earthquake area, induced earthquakes in the region may continue for many years.

It is understood that Kon Tum Province is part of the Central Highlands coffee-producing region of Vietnam, including provinces such as Dak Lak, Lam Dong, Gia Lai and Kon Tum, mainly cultivating the Robusta variety, and this region grows about 70% of the country's Robusta coffee.

An earthquake in these regions will cause the land in farmland to sink or rise, and may also trigger secondary disasters such as land subsidence and mudslides. In addition, earthquakes can cause changes in the groundwater level and may also cause reservoirs to rupture, which will undoubtedly further limit irrigation water for agriculture and affect coffee yield and quality.

Since the beginning of this year, Vietnam's coffee-growing regions have been continuously affected by severe drought weather, and reports have indicated shortages of groundwater resources, with the riverbeds of multiple reservoirs drying up and cracking, and the current earthquake may worsen this situation, ultimately leading to a severe reduction in Vietnam's coffee production.

Second, in recent years coffee has faced competition from other fruits, and growers have chosen to plant other crops with higher economic returns, reducing the area planted with coffee. For this reason, industry insiders say that Vietnam's coffee exports in 2024 are expected to decrease by 20% year on year, mainly due to reduced production caused by severe weather, but unfavorable weather will not persist over the long term. However, due to the reduction in planted area, it is expected that by 2050, Vietnam may reduce its coffee-growing area by as much as half.