Missing MH370: Seismic activity detected after plane went off radar

BEIJING: A research team from China's University of Science and Technology detected tremors in the sea near the Malaysia Vietnam border on March 8 hours after MH370 disappeared from the radar screen.

In a report published on its website, the Wen Lianxing Research Team said it suspected the tremor to relate to the missing MAS plane because the area "is not within seismic zone."

"The incident happened at 2.55am on March 8, about one-and-a-half hours after MH370 lost contact at 1.30am.

"One of the two possible locations is (an area) about 116km to the northeast of MH370's last confirmed location," it said.

The research team said it detected the tremor with two seismographs located within the borders of Malaysia and identified the location with the signals.

"Many countries have deployed aircrafts, vessels and satellites to locate the missing flight to no avail.

"If this tremor was indeed caused by the plane crashing into the sea, the intensity of the seismicity indicated that the crashing process was disastrous," the report said.

The Wen Lianxing Research Team is part of the university's School of Earth and Space Sciences. Four researchers were involved in this  project.

When contacted by The Star, Meteorological Department deputy director-general (strategy and technical) Dr Mohd Rosaidi Che Abas confirmed that seismographs at the department's stations in Kulim and Ipoh detected "shaking" at 2.56am on that day.

He said further investigations are underway.

Flight MH370 on a Boeing777-200ER was carrying 239 passengers and crew enroute to Beijing.