© Tuoi TreA mountain of the Truong Son chain in the central Quang Nam Province exploded and caused the land crack near the dam of the Song Tranh 2 hydroelectricity power plant
About 50km from Quang Nam province's administrative center is Tam Ky City. It takes over three hours for a motorbike to make it down the bumpy road DT616 crossing mountains and hills from there to Bac Tra My Town, where strange geologic activity has residents on edgeIncreasingly violent mountain explosionsResidents of the town cannot help but feel anxious, as the intensity of the quakes keeps increasing. The nearby mountain of the Truong Son chain explodes ever more loudly every night.
Lu Quang Lai, nearly 70, says he has never witnessed such strange phenomenon in Tra My in the past decades.
"About 10 months ago, when the new hydroelectricity power plant started to conserve water, the water level in the lake got higher every day. The land here seemed to change. Every night exploding sounds would emanate from the earth, followed by a rumbling sound. Recently the explosions and quakes have become more violent. Glasses and cups fall down like leaves, everything tilts", Lai speaks in a tremble.
Nguyen Phuoc Danh, a motorbike mechanic, lives in a house 300km from Song Tranh 2 hydroelectricity plant's dam. His home is the worst affected in the area, suffering from three tremors.
"Two nights ago, the mountain exploded with a deafening sound. Although I've become used to the noise caused by TNT explosives during the dam's construction, nothing compared to the recent explosion.
"A few seconds later, the earth shook. The roof and the windows rattled. Things started to fall. The wall creaked, and then cracked. I took my wife and kids out to the street. A chill crept up from my heels to my head just like electricity", Danh says in disbelief.
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