PHUKET, Thailand (24 July 2005) -- THAILAND went on high tsunami alert overnight, with its southwest coast scrambling into evacuation mode after an earthquake struck India's Nicobar Islands, but the alarm was lifted 90 minutes later. The National Disaster Warning Centre triggered its alert shortly after the US Geological Survey said a "major" earthquake, measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale, had hit the remote Indian island chain. Thai emergency broadcasts cited seismologists as saying the quake measured 7.3 and occurred about 660km west of Phuket, Thailand's main beach tourist destination, which was badly hit in last year's tsunami disaster. The warning centre's director Plodprasop Surasawadi went on national television to sound the alarm, which triggered a series of evacuations along the coastline before the warning was lifted. "After closely monitoring the situation ... it was determined that there will be no tsunami to endanger people's lives," Mr Plodprasop said in a later live broadcast. "Therefore the centre has cancelled its earlier warning." Before he all-clear, police, governors of coastal provinces, emergency services, residents and tourists had all sprung into action. Anuwat Matheeviboonwut, the governor of Phang Nga province which was hardest hit by the December tsunami, said evacuations had taken place, including at Baan Nam Khem, a fishing village nearly wiped off the map seven months ago. Baan Nam Khem villager Suneewan Thipmeung told reporters that villagers quickly fled for safety. "All people in Baan Nam Khem have already been evacuated to higher ground. But nothing suspicious has happened yet," she said. "The sea is calm." Evacuations took place on the resort island of Phuket as well. "When I learned authorities had issued a tsunami warning, I came out and saw my neighbours, and we agreed we should go to higher ground," said one shop owner in Patong town. | | More than 5,300 locals and tourists died in Thailand after a huge tsunami hit last December. In the aftermath of the tragedy, as bereaved relatives searched for missing loved ones, Phuket dive shop owners, mostly foreigners from Europe, launched an ill-advised "let's go scuba diving" promotional campaign and angrily lashed out at the media blaming news coverage of the disaster for business losses. She said Western tourists were among the more than 1000 others who joined her on the hillside behind Patong as police raced through the streets ordering people to leave and assisting with evacuations. Television clips showed scores of inhabitants sitting on mats or in pickup trucks in designated safe areas, and emergency rescue or medical personnel preparing for an eventuality that never came. It was the second tsunami false alarm for popular tourist destination Thailand since the giant waves of December 26 last year. A massive undersea quake on March 29 off the Indonesian coast brought thousands of tourists racing out of their Phuket hotel rooms to higher ground. SOURCE - The Australian |
