The Institute of Geophysics registered the earthquake at 8:05 a.m., around 16 km underground in Bot Xuyen Commune, My Duc District on the capital's outskirts.
Tran Xuan Hai, chairman of the commune, said the tremors lasted for around 5 seconds. No damage has been recorded.
Bui Thi Hien, 48, from Dong Tam Commune of My Duc, said she was washing clothes inside her house when she felt shaking "from head to feet."
Hien said it was her first time feeling an earthquake so she was very scared. She ran out of the house and only came back inside an hour later.
Nguyen Son was away from home when he was informed of the earthquake. He checked his security family and saw it lasted around three seconds, startling his family's dog.
"Our furniture was not damaged, but people fled outdoors in panic," Son said.
His relatives who live three km away said their "table leaned on one side" during the earthquake.
My Duc District is located within the Red River Fault which runs around 1,560 km from Yunnan, China, to the Gulf of Tonkin.
Earthquakes of 2.5-5.4 magnitude are often felt my humans but only cause minor damage. Those of 5.5 to 6 on the Richter scale can cause slight damage to buildings, 6.1 to 6.9 may cause a lot of damage in populated areas, and those from 7 are deemed major earthquakes that cause serious damage.