Thailand now has the best warning system in Southeast Asia, eight years
after the Andaman coast was ravaged by a devastating tsunami on Boxing Day in
2004.
Before monstrous waves hit Thai
shores and killed over 8,000 people in six provinces along the southern coast,
no one knew the tsunami was coming.
All that will change with the
early alert system and instruments installed by the National Disaster Warning
Centre (NDWC) along the Andaman coast over the past eight years, backed by
necessary regulations.
Now, ample time for evacuation is
assured with streamlined regulations, in a bid to save lives.
The devastating waves killed
5,395 people - many of them foreign tourists - with another 2,817 people swept
away or lost. Over 58,550 people were affected, including 1,480 children who
lost one or both parents.
"Within two minutes (after
tsunami waves start to form), we can now calculate the speed and know exactly
when they will reach the shore. Messages could be sent out immediately after
the calculation," Captain Song Ekmahachai, chief of the NDWC’s Disaster
Warning and Dissemination Division, told The Nation in an exclusive interview.
He said alerts could be sent to
the public within 15 minutes via satellite and warning towers.
To prevent another disaster from
an earthquake-driven tsunami, the NDWC has set up 136 warning towers and three
tsunami-detection buoys in the Andaman Sea - one near the coast and two others
in the deep sea. When an abnormal tidal wave is detected, the buoys send data
to the NDWC via satellite, where staff members work around the clock to monitor
updates on computer screens. Many will miss the opportunity to celebrate New
Year and other festivals.
The centre then double-checks
data with the Thai Meteorological Department, the United States Geological
Survey (USGS), the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO), and other
authorised disaster monitoring agencies to confirm the occurrence.
Upon confirmation, the centre
calculates the wave direction and expected arrival time. This can be completed
in two minutes, allowing the centre to send out correct warning messages to the
public via satellite and warning towers.
Messages will be sent to the
media and related agencies via 16 fax machines, 8 hotlines, hundreds of radio
stations, and dozens of television stations.
The centre has the capacity to
send short messages to 90 million mobile phones, but due to budget constraints,
it has limited the access to some 15,000 public officials throughout the
country.
NDWC director Group Captain
Somsak Khaosuwan said the National Broadcasting and Telecommunications
Commission (NBTC) will issue a regulation soon that allows the centre to
broadcast tsunami warning messages whenever necessary.
"We will no longer need
permission from the Television Pool of Thailand or TV station directors. We can
interrupt any ongoing television programme," he said.
A directive will also be issued
to designate the NDWC as the only agency responsible for issuing tsunami
alerts. All other agencies and experts, including academics, will be barred
from giving such alerts, in order to prevent the spreading of wrong information
that may cause panic.
"They [would] just speak to
the public without responsibility. We are the only ones who have the authority
to send out tsunami warning messages," Somsak said.
Because the 2004 tsunami was
caused by a huge quake in the Indian Ocean, near the Andaman Sea, the NDWC will
also monitor earthquakes around the world, particularly ones in the Indian
Ocean and the Andaman Sea.
Associate Professor Penneung
Warnitchai, an earthquake expert at the Asian Institute of Technology, said
data over the past few years suggested there had been no increase in the number
of severe earthquakes in the Indian Ocean since 2004. Each year there are about
10 quakes of over-7 magnitude in the ocean. However, the damage toll could
rise, as many growing cities are located in areas rated as
"high-risk" for quake hazards.
The NDWC's Song said quake alerts
would be sent out when a tremor of 7.8 magnitude is detected in the Indian
Ocean, with its epicentre 100 kilometres underground.
To ensure people understand how
to respond to warning messages, the centre also organises training to teach
local residents in coastal areas on how to prepare themselves for tsunami and
related disasters.
Somsak from the warning centre
admitted the system could not save lives and damage without public cooperation.
"If they do not run away
from the big waves, no one can help them," he said. "The only thing
that can save you from a huge wave is running away to higher ground as fast as
you can. Don’t stop and waste your time taking a photo of the big wave. It will
kill you," Somsak said.
Chularat Saengpassa
and Pongphon Sarnsamak
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