Cracks appear in over 300 Ho Chi Minh City apartments after Myanmar earthquake

Kim Nam, 37, and his family were tidying up their apartment on the 15th floor on Saturday afternoon after noticing cracks in multiple areas of the walls, with the longest one stretching over three meters near the door to the hallway and bedroom. Some sections of the wall also had peeling plaster.

"The cracks do not seem to be spreading, but my family still feels uneasy," Nam said, adding that they are waiting to discuss solutions with the complex's management.

Kim Nam points to a wall crack at his apartment in HCMC that he believes appeared due to tremors from the Myanmar earthquake. Photo by VnExpress/Ha Giang

The earthquake struck Myanmar at 1:20 p.m. on Friday, causing tremors in HCMC and Hanoi. Shaking that lasted nearly 20 seconds was reported in high-rise buildings in HCMC, most noticeably in Districts 7 and 8 and downtown District 1.

Nam recalled that at the time, his family felt the shaking but did not immediately realize it was an earthquake. When they saw cracks appear on their walls and others in the building rushing downstairs, they panicked and followed suit.

"This is the first time our apartment has had cracks like this, so I believe they were caused by the tremors," he said.

At the same complex, Vu Thi Hien, 60, said she was napping with her grandchild when she was startled by loud noises, household items shaking and the bathroom door swaying back and forth. She quickly grabbed her grandchild and joined hundreds of residents rushing downstairs.

"I only dared to return to my unit after several hours, fearing more tremors," Hien said, adding that four cracks had appeared in her apartment, likely due to the quake. Her family has lived in the unit since 2021 and had never seen similar damage before.

Vu Thi Hien points to cracks on the wall of her apartment in HCMC. Photo by VnExpress/Ha Giang

The apartment complex, located on Vo Van Kiet Street, consists of four 29-story buildings with nearly 1,700 apartments handed over in 2020.

Nguyen Thanh Binh, representing the complex's management board, said they had received multiple reports from residents about cracked walls, ceilings, and popped tiles in their apartments after the tremors.

As of noon on Saturday, such incidents were reported in 342 apartments across all four blocks. Some areas of the hallways and rooftop also had bulging or loose tiles.

"Following the tremors, the management board and local authorities inspected the infrastructure on Friday afternoon and worked with residents to document and assess the damage," Binh said.

The management board has compiled a list of affected households and submitted it to the insurance provider for damage evaluation. Residents have been advised not to make any repairs for now to allow for a thorough assessment and solution.

A spokesperson for the District 8 People's Committee said it had also received reports about cracked walls from residents at the above location and instructed relevant agencies to survey the site along with the complex's management.

Initial assessments indicated that the building's structural integrity remained intact. Authorities will continue to monitor the situation.

"Local authorities have conducted inspections but wall cracks were only found at the apartment complex on Vo Van Kiet Street," the spokesperson said, adding that the exact cause can only be determined after a specialized team conducts tests.