Thai authorities 'satisfied' with tsunami warning system after false alarm

[Nicke]

BANKGOK (AFX) - The authorities here said they are 'satisfied' with their tsunami warning system, having hours earlier sounded an alarm following a major earthquake in the Nicobar islands in the Indian Ocean.

The warning was issued shortly before midnight, prompting police to help evacuate thousands of people to higher ground along the six provinces pounded by the Dec 26 tsunami. It was withdrawn about 90 minutes later at 1.20 am.

The National Disaster Warning Center triggered its alert shortly after the US Geological Survey said a 'major' earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale hit the remote Indian island chain at 1542 GMT Sunday.

Thai authorities cut into local television programming to issue emergency broadcasts that said the earthquake was about 660 kilometers west of the resort island of Phuket, whose west coast was hard hit in December's disaster.

Some residents along Phuket's Patong beach said they heard loud sirens, part of the newly developed warning system, for about 30 seconds before deciding to flee, along with thousands of other residents and Western tourists.

Major General Jaruek Sriwarit, a member of the National Disaster Warning Center, said the center's officials were 'satisfied' with the system, particularly the way television stations passed on the emergency information.

'We don't think it was an overreaction,' Jaruek told Agence France-Presse.

'We were happy that we issued the warning to people because if there was a tsunami, it would take less time (to reach the coast) than the December 26 tsunami because it was only 600 kilometers from Phuket.'

Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra said the warning system remains work in progress but defended the country's decision to announce an alert, even as India and Sri Lanka, two countries hard hit in December's disaster, declined to issue tsunami warnings.

'A tsunami does not automatically happen, but if the earthquake is strong enough there is a possibility,' Thaksin told reporters.

Yet the premier acknowledged that too many false alarms may cause people to ignore the real thing.

'We are concerned that (too many tsunami warnings after earthquakes) will make people not believe the next warning when it happens,' he said.

Thailand will 'speed up' its installation of tsunami-detection buoys in the Indian Ocean, a key link in the warning system, in order to better predict the giant waves, Thaksin said.

Jaruek said the overnight warning was a vital dress rehearsal.

'We can count this as a big trial because the first time we issued the warning, people panicked,' he said. 'This time, they were in control of themselves and knew what they should do.'

The false alarm was the second for tourist-magnet Thailand since the huge Dec 26 waves killed some 5,400 people in the country, about half of them foreign holidaymakers.

The first, on March 29, sent thousands of tourists scrambling to higher ground after a massive undersea quake off the Indonesian coast.

[Nicke]

While I think it is better to be safe than sorry and issue an alert if there is any risk for a tidal wave I can also mention that a lot of people left Patong yesterday.

Many guys at MTB last night reported people checked out and went to the airport. Beach road and Soi Eric was quieter compared to the days before.

[domifletch]

The probability that another tsunami hits Phuket before dozens or hundreds years if very low, I think.

There has always had many eartquacke in the Indian ocean, that certainly doesn't mean that there was a tsunami every time.

Traumatism of 26th Dec is still there, for tourists and people living there, so I heard from my TGF that there was panic aboard with the alert... maybe they should wait to give the alert a little more and regulate the system to avoid the panic.

[stevem]

Whilst I believe that there was never any threat of any waves after the last quake, I do understand the issuing of the alert based on the location of the quake. Almost directly west of Phuket with little in between here and there.

These days governments worldwide are quicker to hit the panic button then in previous years. They are danmed if they do and danmed if they dont.

[domifletch]

Originally Posted by stevem

Whilst I believe that there was never any threat of any waves after the last quake, I do understand the issuing of the alert based on the location of the quake. Almost directly west of Phuket with little in between here and there.

These days governments worldwide are quicker to hit the panic button then in previous years. They are danmed if they do and danmed if they dont.

Yes Stevem, the authorities job is not easy and I am sure they do their best, but I am afraid that, if there is an alert every 3 months, and I hope always false alerts, tourists will not come back and residents will feel really bad in their daily life.

This is a new system, that must be improved, but right now I understand they want to be more prudent than the reason wants.

[Coolhand]

I also think this time they were very quick in cancelling the alert, which has to be praised. I understand the first alert, people were waiting up the hill for 5+ hours at night, not the kind of thing most tourists want to do. This time it was cancelled relatively quickly, and a couple of hours isn't to bad.
The system will be improved, and whilst we all pray that the tragic events of 26/12 will never be repeated, I would rather have the inconvenience of an occassional false alarm, rather than finding my life in danger.