False Tsunami Alarm Sends Residents Running

[Jimmy2004]

Good luck there was a farang around, to take the blame 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

You bet me to it Ricardo.

[capt_canada42]

The way I read the article on the BBC is that it is going to happen in North Sumatra. The plate is already pushing the land at the shore under the sea and this tension will release and the land will jump back again. They are saying that the plates are stuck and the tension is building up.

But that won't effect Phuket as we are in an area where the tension has been released already and it shouldn't happen here for at least another couple of hundred years.

So relax every body in didn't happen in Hilo it came to Hilo one Tsunami came from Chili one from Alaska and one came from Japan.

Just remember Hilo is in the middle of the ocean. Also remember Tsunami almost never come from the same place( except every 250 years away), in short time frames

[sonthaya]

The way I read the article on the BBC is that it is going to happen in North Sumatra. The plate is already pushing the land at the shore under the sea and this tension will release and the land will jump back again. They are saying that the plates are stuck and the tension is building up.

But that won't effect Phuket as we are in an area where the tension has been released already and it shouldn't happen here for at least another couple of hundred years.

So relax every body in didn't happen in Hilo it came to Hilo one Tsunami came from Chili one from Alaska and one came from Japan.

Just remember Hilo is in the middle of the ocean. Also remember Tsunami almost never come from the same place( except every 250 years away), in short time frames

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I sure hope you are right, I'll be moving to Patong early next year.

[capt_canada42]

Pardon me I meant south Sumatra people!!

[singlelayer]

Peter and the wolf comes to mind!!!

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Don't you mean 'the boy who cried wolf'? Peter and the Wolf is a childrens story.

[gunners]

Oh. we accept full responsibility for the mistake, but it was a 'careless' American that did it. haha

[markus]

<snip>

The running Thais are now primed for the Olympics.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Idiot!

I pity you.

[tracer0]

It probably would have been easier for the Thais to have a nice big RED button, with a cover over it to prevent accidental pressing it.

Secondly I asume it was one of the welknown language problems....

Whatever we will have fun again at 13.30 today, a real fake alarm...

Ideal time for the burglars again(g)

[marshbags]

It probably would have been easier for the Thais to have a nice big RED  button, with a cover over it to prevent accidental pressing it.

Secondly I asume it was one of the welknown language problems....

Whatever we will have fun again at 13.30 today, a real fake alarm...

Ideal time for the burglars again(g)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

my wife said on Thai news last night they reported that a lot of tourists fled on the alarm and left everything only to return and find most of it missing.

She said the Thai government had apologised for the false alarm but did not even bother to offer assitance or replacements of the belongings.

A good advertisement for there concern for tourists and it also makes one wonder if the false alarms are in some way orchestrated by someone locally out of convenience.

I know i,m being naughty and negative thinking things like this about Thai,s but it makes you wonder with all that happens in the name of Thai culture and is no reward for Thais who have been very good and caring.

My wife and several of her friends also watched on tele in the afternoon ad all said the Thai government should compensate the victims of the theft as well as apologising.

They said not good enough in the Thai equivalent and bad for tourism in the future.

[Foggy Bottom]

Coming in late on this and haven't read all comments, but......

Surely someone has thought to set the system up with different alarm levels?

A precautionary alarm - to say there has been an event that may lead to a tsunami

A preparedness alarm - to say a tsunami is highly likely or has been detected more than xx minutes/hours away

A critical alarm - to say one is imminent (run for the hills NOW!!)

An all-clear - it's safe to return

It's no use just having one level of alarm or mistakes and false-alarms will happen all too frequently.

The differences in the alarm types need only be different siren patterns when broadcast - with a regular test (e.g. weekly at first and monthly later) all residents will soon recognise them - especially if supported by posters etc in the danger zones.

...... but then again, maybe the test soundings wll be "drowned" out by the temples' community news broadcasts?

TiT

[Dickie_Doo]

A precautionary alarm - to say there has been an event that may lead to a tsunami

"Yoinks Pornpitoparn. Did I hear the alarm?"

"No, fear not Father, for that was the preliminary precautionary alarm, I can tell by the higher pitch and intermittent bleeping. Resume your dinner and await the marginally lower tones of the Danger alar....YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

Cue extremely large wave hitting.

Edited December 16, 2005 by Dickie_Doo

[penzman]

Coming in late on this and haven't read all comments, but......

Surely someone has thought to set the system up with different alarm levels?

A precautionary alarm - to say there has been an event that may lead to a tsunami

A preparedness alarm - to say a tsunami is highly likely or has been detected more than xx minutes/hours away

A critical alarm - to say one is imminent (run for the hills NOW!!)

An all-clear - it's safe to return

It's no use just having one level of alarm or mistakes and false-alarms will happen all too frequently.

The differences in the alarm types need only be different siren patterns when broadcast - with a regular test (e.g. weekly at first and monthly later) all residents will soon recognise them - especially if supported by posters etc in the danger zones.

...... but then again, maybe the test soundings wll be "drowned" out by the temples' community news broadcasts?

TiT

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I saw this week that some chemical plants in Montreal Canada have installed alarm systems that will overtake broadcasting of radio stations in their vicinity.

The same should be done here as well for both radio and television.

[tracer0]

Agreed  ..  Better safe than sorry ! 

Good luck there was a farang around, to take the blame 

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

quote:

Tsunami alarm test mix-up scares 6 provinces

PHUKET: Tsunami warning towers in the six tsunami-affected provinces sounded a false alarm at noon today because of a mix-up at the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC).

Adm Thaweesak Daengchai, Adviser to the National Disaster Warning Center, told the Gazette, “Radiance International Co was testing the tsunami warning system and the towers to confirm they will be ready for the test on December 16.

“When staff tested the alarm, they believed that the test they initiated would not set off the sirens.” But it did.

EOQ

Ok, if I was suspicious with a scheme being setup everybody looks at and which already caused several fake alarms.... I read with interest what Phuket Gazette wrote (see above).

I cannot believe the farang expert didnt KNOW the system he was installing wouldnt make a noise if the alarm was activated...

Sounds to me like some Thai did and the farang and his company voluntarily took the blame....

Maybe financial reasons, contract reasons or / and face saving reasons.

Whatever, I heard neither yesterday 15 or today 16 ANY alarms from sirens or Police cars or speakers.

And as I myself and some friends were awaiting today with great interest the noise, I heard as much as with the real Tsunami: zero.

Sure the village speakers can be noisy, every day many times on all kind of subjects but not when you need it...

[tracer0]

[

my wife said on Thai news last night they reported that a lot of tourists fled on the alarm and left everything only to return and find most of it missing.

She said the Thai government had apologised for the false alarm but did not even bother to offer assitance or replacements of the belongings.

A good advertisement for there concern for tourists and it also makes one wonder if the false alarms are in some way orchestrated by someone locally out of convenience.

I know i,m being naughty and negative thinking things like this about Thai,s but it makes you wonder with all that happens in the name of Thai culture and is no reward for Thais who have been very good and caring.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

Well considering the looting etc going on after the real Tsunami I would for sure make certain I either stay home or / and that everything is locked with no money and other stuff worth stealing around...

[phibunmike]

"Yoinks Pornpitoparn. Did I hear the alarm?"

"No, fear not Father, for that was the preliminary precautionary alarm, I can tell by the higher pitch and intermittent bleeping. Resume your dinner and await the marginally lower tones of the Danger alar....YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHH

Hilarious !!!!!

The alarm is still a good idea. Someone said better to watch for the withdrawing water, but you can get a 2 or 3 hour advantage on that depending on the location of the siesmic event. Someone else said time depends on magnitude - not true, I think, only distance.

On a side note, I get fed up with those in authority (usually politicians, and by no means restricted to Thailand), who "accept responsibility" while simultaneously blaming someone else.

[phuketsiam]

This whole Tsumani warning thing has been a farce from the beginning, its cock-up after cock-up and this is the latest installment. Can't blame the powers for trying, but its turning into a huge joke, if it hasn't already

[Thanh-BKK]

Where isthe natural instict here..??

Ok they build an alarm system, fine. Sure enough there will be errors whilst that system is being installed, after all, no system in the world works "out of the box".

But what happened with the natural instinct that humans should have?

Many people have been killed in the original tsunami because they stayed near the beach when the water ran away. Now, every single person should know that if all of a sudden the ocean runs away, something is seriously wrong. And should use logic: "Huge amount of water runs away. Fast. Has to come back. Fast too!" And then get the heck away from that place!

I've read reports from survivors who had been "rescued" by their kids - who sensed something wrong.

Do adults lose this kind of instinct?

And what i would add to the system, once it's completely installed: An automatic warning in several languages to go out on air - on EVERY ONE available radio - and television frequency! Because, at least for thais, most of them are glued to their TV's 24/7 and that's the best way to reach them. Don't wait for the stations to slip in a warning between their commercials, no, install a tower in each town/village that powers over the used frequencies. Omnidirectional antenna, 10 kW output, that should do.

Also possible: Emergency notification system via cellular phone. If an alarm goes off, have every single one cellular tower send a "Service message" to every cell phone that's hooked to it. These "Service messages" don't need to be opened, they show right on the screen upon receiving. Make such message at least bi-lingual thai and english.

It can't be THAT difficult to reach the masses nowadays........

regards....

Thanh

[tracer0]

Next breach of the fault is likely to be north of the previous ones, in line with the pattern this year.

If it nails the Nicobar and Andaman island area - any wave would be on the mainland so fast that coast dwellers would all be screwed anyway.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

The way I understand it the shortest way to west coast of Phuket from a fault is about 20 minutes. (seems to be a relatively new fault). Ofcourse if the supervulcano near Medan lets go, its all over anyway unless you climb the tallest coconut tree on the tallest hill in Phuket.... I cannot and it may not happen for another 10000 years plus...

Same, wait 30 years, average seawater will likely be up 50 cm and it means all beaches may be under water anyway, Tsunami or not...

Unless as I still think we are at the end of a minor iceage, stuff the global warming, and water may be down....

At present we are in a casino position, unpredictable!

If anyone has a proper geological map of Phuket, I would love to see it as if one digs for a well here, the most amazing clay and other sediments crop up....

[sonthaya]

By the time the next Tsunami strikes, perhaps in 200 years from now, all this " fancy" warning equipment will have died.

[WISteve]

I live in a community in "tornado alley" here in the States, and the city has been struck twice in the last ten years. Both times the warning siren only preceeded it by a minute or two. But it probably saved lives since even though dozens of homes were destroyed both times, there were no fatal injuries.

We have a false alarm occasionally, but I far prefer that to no warning at all.

They'll get the kinks ironed-out and as long as they keep the politics out of it and let the engineers and technicians run it properly it could be a life saver some day.

I sincerely hope they only have practices and false alarms....

~WISteve