The recent earthquake off the coast of Sumatra and the likely tsunami on the resort island of Phuket in Thailand have scared tourists and locals. Meanwhile, the authorities assured that the triggered tsunami sensors that sounded an alarm in Kamala and the Laguna area in Cherng Talay on April 27 are not a cause for alarm and commotion.
According to Phuket News, sensors began signaling a tsunami approaching the island following a magnitude 4.8 earthquake off the coast of Sumatra at around 3:43 am. However, the head of the Phuket Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Office, Udomporn Kan, personally assured vacationers and the local population that there was no threat. According to him, people in Phuket have never been threatened by a tsunami. Why exactly on the towers the alarm was sounded, the officials could not explain. This issue is currently being investigated and technicians have been dispatched to the sensor towers.
Veera Samali, director of the weather department at the Southwest Meteorological Center, located near Phuket Airport, noted that an underwater earthquake must be registered with a magnitude of at least 7 points in order for a tsunami dangerous for the island to arise. “I would like to confirm that the magnitude of 4.8 on the Richter scale did not reach the threshold for a tsunami, so this is unlikely to be the cause of the disaster,” she assured. – As for the Marui fault (a small fault line near Phuket), this is a fault that remains high. Therefore, it will not cause a tsunami.”
Tsunami warning sensor towers operate throughout the Andaman region. The tsunami warning buoys in the sea and the Indian Ocean are also in working condition and will transmit a distress signal in the event of an emergency. The warning interval in the ocean is 1.30 minutes, in the sea – 30 minutes. The disaster management center also has a plan to evacuate people if necessary.
“This way, if an earthquake occurs that causes a tsunami, the sensors will be able to warn people so that they can evacuate in a timely manner. I can confirm that both buoys are in excellent working order, the system is checked every week,” Chaowalit Nitharat, head of the DDPM regional center, reassured.
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