Phuket Struck Twice By Earthquakes

[sbk]

Best to read the entire thread, including verified reports of an earthquake in the area before posting, people don't really need to repeat information thats been given only a few posts up.

[Lite Beer]

EARTHQUAKE

PM orders damage evaluation in Phuket

The Nation

PHUKET:-- Local residents show cracks in a house reportedly caused by Sunday quake.

Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Tuesday instructed the interior minister to survey damage in Phuket following the 4.3-magnitude earthquake that struck the southern island resort yesterday afternoon.

The premier made her remarks this morning as she departed Bangkok for a three-day official visit to China at the invitation of Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao to strengthen bilateral relations and upgrade the strategic partnership and cooperation between the two countries.

The 4.3-magnitude quake hit Phuket’s Thalang district on Monday, shaking high rise buildings in the province.

Yingluck said that she has instructed all relevant agencies to closely monitor the situation and ordered Interior Minister Yongyuth Vichaidit to inspect all structures and assess the damage.

Phuket has many old buildings and inspecting their strength is necessary, according to the prime minister.

Yingluck added that improvements to the natural disaster warning system will be made soon so that warnings reach the public immediately.

Regarding the failure of the telephone network during last week's panic following a series of major quakes centred on Sumatra, Indonesia, Yingluck said she has assigned concerned officials to improve communications readiness in times of crisis and that this task should be carried out quickly.

-- The Nation 2012-04-17

[Lite Beer]

3.1 Richter quake happens in Phuket

The National Disaster Warning Centre reported that a 3.1 Richter quake happened in Phuket at noon on Tuesday.

The centre reported that the quake happened at 12:18 pm with epicenter in Thalang district.

The quake could be felt in several areas in Phuket, the centre said.

-- The Nation 2012-04-17

[Tywais]

[Burr]

I have the report think set to 5.0 or better. So I am getting no reports

[anterian]

The fault line running through Phuket is apparently in granite. Granite is high in quartz and during an earthquake this can generate piezo electricity, this is sometimes seen at night as a flickering blue light, sometimes accompanied by thunder like noises.

I wonder if anyone noticed a hissing or crackling sound during this event?

[Guest]

The fault line running through Phuket is apparently in granite. Granite is high in quartz and during an earthquake this can generate piezo electricity, this is sometimes seen at night as a flickering blue light, sometimes accompanied by thunder like noises.

I wonder if anyone noticed a hissing or crackling sound during this event?

Blue or could it be greenish "electrical cloud"?

[phuketrichard]

was at Junk Ceylon at noon and didn't feel it or did anyone know about it.

[arrowsdawdle]

This quake showed that the massive earthquakes off Sumatra last week had affected the faults in Thailand.

-- The Nation 2012-04-17

Earth movement of 40m 1000km away affects Phuket's faults? That's like a quake in LA effecting faults in San Francisco. I have never heard of such a connection made, and both of those would be on the same fault, the San Andreas. The Klong Marui is a minor fault not connected to the Sumatra-Andaman fault. I find this claim dubious at best, but he's the "expert."

Indecently, seismologists at CalTech published a very interesting prediction about the Sumatra-Andaman fault in 2007. Seems they were right: http://www.scienceda...81203131042.htm

Maybe we now start hearing theories which explain connections between faults? I have heard that story that there is no evidence that one quake could trigger another one.

But then again. If there is an tension an a fault, which is very close to be triggered as quake, then why another quake, 500km away could not be an trigger for it? If the earth movement can be measured at an distance, that also means that the quake have an effect to the crust on the place of the measurement.

I won't disagree that it's possible, but I'm not a seismologist, just a student of science having lived with earthquakes most my life. I think one thing that most seismologists will agree on is we don't know a whole lot about the science behind it. I just don't think what this guy said is in line with current thinking.

Guess the explanation someone made yesterday was missed so let's repeat what was said about intersecting faults allowing a quake in one fault to radiate back up through an intersecting fault and cause damage at each fault location with no damage between the faults. This can appear to the people on the ground as individual quakes since areas inbetween escape any damage when in fact it was one quake taking different routes to the surface. Depends of course on lots of variables, not the least of which are distance between the faults, depth of the originating fault epicenter, and surface composition density--e.g., soil, rock, sand--in and between the affected areas.

[anterian]

The fault line running through Phuket is apparently in granite. Granite is high in quartz and during an earthquake this can generate piezo electricity, this is sometimes seen at night as a flickering blue light, sometimes accompanied by thunder like noises.

I wonder if anyone noticed a hissing or crackling sound during this event?

Blue or could it be greenish "electrical cloud"?

It has been quoted as bluish, greenish or pink, I think it depends on the level of ionisation in the atmosphere, if my memory serves me aright, pink is ionized oxygen and green ionized nitrogen, but I might be wrong on this. Additionally a fault may actually be a source of other ionized gases.

[Lite Beer]

Phuket ‘aftershocks’ likely Sumatra-related: experts

Phuket Gazette

The Thai Meteorological Department reported today's 'aftershock' at 3.1 Richter in magnitude.

The latest 'shocks' affecting Phuket have been along the 130-kilometer Klong Marui Fault, which runs directly underneath Phuket.

PHUKET: The eight small earthquakes that have rocked Phuket over the past 24 hours are most likely related to the much larger earthquakes off the coast of Sumatra last week, experts from the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) said.

The latest quake, which hit at 12:18pm today, was the largest of the group with a magnitude of 3.1 on the Richter scale, according to preliminary data released by the TMD website.

The previous tremors dating back through yesterday, all centered in Thalang, were as follows:

Today:

1:31am: 2.3 Richter

Yesterday:

7:02pm: 2.5 Richter

6:00pm: 2.2 Richter

4:47pm: 2.1 Richter (originally reported at 4.3 magnitude; 10km deep)

4:03pm: 2.7 Richter

4:01pm: 2.6 Richter

2:17pm: 2.6 Richter

TMD explained that the 8.9 Richter earthquake off Sumatra on April 11 likely affected all 13 known faults in Thailand.

The source of recent activity in Thalang is the 130-kilometer-long Klong Marui Fault that runs beneath Phuket and Phang Nga.

TMD spokesperson Phuwiang Prakammi said on the Nation Group’s Rawangpai (Disaster Watch) Channel that he had discussed the recent earthquake activity with fellow seismologists and there was a consensus that the Thalang – centered tremors likely represented an ongoing adjustment to the much larger earthquake last week.

“It may have an effect on all 13 faults in Thailand, which may need a period of time to adjust before things return to normal,” he said.

The Thai fault zones were not directly related to the active fault zone off Sumatra, which has been the source on numerous aftershocks in recent days, he said.

Mr Phuwiang said aftershocks with magnitudes greater than 5.0 Richter pose a risk of significant damage, but that earthquakes less than 4.0 Richter should not be a source of panic.

“Normally aftershocks are not as strong as the main quake; some are hardly even detectable. However, we will continue to monitor the situation closely,” he said.

In Bangkok, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra ordered The Ministry of Interior to monitor the ongoing seismic activity in Phuket and insisted that the Government was not being lax in its efforts.

Deputy Prime Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit had been assigned to oversee the government effort, she said.

Authorities were working to fix some of the National Disaster Warning Center’s network of 69 tsunami warning towers along Andaman Coast, some of which malfunctioned last Wednesday, she admitted.

Officials have also been instructed to inspect old buildings and historical sites for damage, she told Thai-language daily Thai Rath.

In order to prevent future breakdowns in mobile-phone networks of the kind that followed last week’s earthquake, she urged the public to try and communicate by text messaging during emergencies, Thai Rath reported.

Source: http://www.phuketgaz...ticle12824.html

-- Phuket Gazette 2012-04-17

[Valentine]

This is not being imagined. It is being recorded by the Thai authorities on their website and all the information is available in both Thai and English. The last aftershock (yes I said aftershock) from the 4.3 yesterday afternoon in Thalang was a 3.1 at 12:18 local time this afternoon. Note on the link I'm going to provide, apart from the time on the map, the chart links are in UTC that means you have to add 7 hours to get local time here in Thailand. Here is the link -: http://www.tmd.go.th...uake_report.php look at the chart below the picture / map. All listed and up to date as are all of the aftershocks reported yesterday evening and this morning.

Do people really think its being made up still?

A very good link because if you add the 7 hours to original 4.3 quake yesterday then that is exactly the time it hit here i.e. 4.44pm. The Nation should also read the report considering there was no local quake that could possibly have caused damage on Sunday to the house in th ephoto.

[skorchio]

This quake showed that the massive earthquakes off Sumatra last week had affected the faults in Thailand.

-- The Nation 2012-04-17

Earth movement of 40m 1000km away affects Phuket's faults? That's like a quake in LA effecting faults in San Francisco. I have never heard of such a connection made, and both of those would be on the same fault, the San Andreas. The Klong Marui is a minor fault not connected to the Sumatra-Andaman fault. I find this claim dubious at best, but he's the "expert."

Indecently, seismologists at CalTech published a very interesting prediction about the Sumatra-Andaman fault in 2007. Seems they were right: http://www.scienceda...81203131042.htm

Well Joe, consider this; any big quake like the 2 recent ones off Sumatra release a huge amount of stress in the earth's crust, stress which has been increasing over time due to shifting plates. Eventually the stress, which is a confined stress-field, exceeds the breaking strain of the rock, and movement occurrs. This is the earthquake. So now a major re-arrangement of the stress field has taken place. Stress has been relieved at the location of the quake through the release of kinetic energy. But the stress is now focused on a different location, and some of the rearranged stress is disippated by movement on other faults. And it is wholly possible that that is what has happened here. So consider that before shooting down the opinion of Thailand's 'experts', who are probably PhD graduates in geology or geophysics and know a whole lot more than you or me about the local tectonic arrangements. They are the ones looking at the seismic recording instruments, and the ones who know how to interpret the data. And for your info I am career geophysicist living in Patong, although I am presently off seekig hydrocarbon accumulations in East Africa. Pity I missed all the action, again.

Edited April 17, 2012 by skorchio

[NomadJoe]

Earth movement of 40m 1000km away affects Phuket's faults? That's like a quake in LA effecting faults in San Francisco. I have never heard of such a connection made, and both of those would be on the same fault, the San Andreas. The Klong Marui is a minor fault not connected to the Sumatra-Andaman fault. I find this claim dubious at best, but he's the "expert."

Indecently, seismologists at CalTech published a very interesting prediction about the Sumatra-Andaman fault in 2007. Seems they were right: http://www.scienceda...81203131042.htm

Maybe we now start hearing theories which explain connections between faults? I have heard that story that there is no evidence that one quake could trigger another one.

But then again. If there is an tension an a fault, which is very close to be triggered as quake, then why another quake, 500km away could not be an trigger for it? If the earth movement can be measured at an distance, that also means that the quake have an effect to the crust on the place of the measurement.

I won't disagree that it's possible, but I'm not a seismologist, just a student of science having lived with earthquakes most my life. I think one thing that most seismologists will agree on is we don't know a whole lot about the science behind it. I just don't think what this guy said is in line with current thinking.

Guess the explanation someone made yesterday was missed so let's repeat what was said about intersecting faults allowing a quake in one fault to radiate back up through an intersecting fault and cause damage at each fault location with no damage between the faults. This can appear to the people on the ground as individual quakes since areas inbetween escape any damage when in fact it was one quake taking different routes to the surface. Depends of course on lots of variables, not the least of which are distance between the faults, depth of the originating fault epicenter, and surface composition density--e.g., soil, rock, sand--in and between the affected areas.

So your suggesting the quakes 2 minutes and 1000km apart are the same quake? I understand what you are describing, but that makes no sense and is clearly irrelevant to anything going on here.

Also, an epicenter cannot by definition be "deep". It is the point on the surface directly above the quake. Epi = "on top of". But the most amazing thing here is George "liked" your comment.

Edited April 17, 2012 by NomadJoe

[wpcoe]

I have been through countless earthquakes here in California and several in Japan and I have never heard of one accompanied by an audible "boom" as so many people have reported. Someone needs to check with the military and see if they were flying supersonic jets around Phuket today.

When I lived in Nevada, I heard one that was centered about a mile away. I barely felt it. I have also experienced sonic booms, and the noise is quite different. The Nevada one I experienced was a slightly echo-y "clunk". Hard to describe.

[Lite Beer]

Local dam unaffected by Phuket earthquake

PHUKET, April 17 - Bang Niew Dum Dam in this resort island with the capacity of 5 million cubic metres was unaffected by the recent earthquake, Deputy Governor Somkiat Sangkaosuttirak said today.

He led provincial officials to inspect Thalang district on Tuesday after a 4.3 earthquake on the Richter scale was felt there Monday. Cracks of about 2-3 metres have been found on the walls of some local homes.

According to a Thalang district mayor, Worawut Songyos, residents reported damage to 33 homes due to yesterday's earthquake. Local authorities in Sri Soontorn sub-district municipality inspected damages and cooperated with district and provincial offices to channel added assistance.

Mr Worawut said the area must still be monitored, for slippage has been found in some areas. His municipality has prepared temporary shelters in case of more serious impacts, he noted.

National Disaster Warning Centre director Group Capt Somsak Khaosuwan said five aftershocks followed Monday’s earthquake, with three more Tuesday, including one at 3.1 on the Richter scale which was felt in several areas of Phuket province.

Capt Somsak said the centre was closely monitoring the situation after following last week’s major quakes in the vicinity of Indonesia's Sumatra.

He said the centre will warn the public immediately if a quake occurs, as there has been the case recently including the latest at the Thai resort.

"An earthquake is a natural disaster in which we cannot predict but I am confident that a major quake will not strike Thailand," the centre director.

Capt Somsak noted that the tremors this week were aftershocks of the April 11 earthquake in Indonesia.

He said the centre and the Department of Meteorology has already sent staff experts to Phuket while a special centre to monitor the earthquakes around the clock has been set up at Meteorological Department headquarters in Bangkok.

In a related development, National Broadcasting and Telecommunications Commission (NBTC) Secretary-General Thakorn Tanthasit said the commission has asked telecommunication network providers, the Radio Amateur Society, and radio and television stations to be prepared to distribute news and warnings in times of crisis.

The NBTC move follows complaints of a failed communication network during the panic of last week quakes.

Mr Thakorn said the commission is also seeking cooperation from radio amateurs nationwide to help distribute details of natural disasters. (MCOT online news)

-- TNA 2012-04-17

[NomadJoe]

This quake showed that the massive earthquakes off Sumatra last week had affected the faults in Thailand.

-- The Nation 2012-04-17

Earth movement of 40m 1000km away affects Phuket's faults? That's like a quake in LA effecting faults in San Francisco. I have never heard of such a connection made, and both of those would be on the same fault, the San Andreas. The Klong Marui is a minor fault not connected to the Sumatra-Andaman fault. I find this claim dubious at best, but he's the "expert."

Indecently, seismologists at CalTech published a very interesting prediction about the Sumatra-Andaman fault in 2007. Seems they were right: http://www.scienceda...81203131042.htm

Well Joe, consider this; any big quake like the 2 recent ones off Sumatra release a huge amount of stress in the earth's crust, stress which has been increasing over time due to shifting plates. Eventually the stress, which is a confined stress-field, exceeds the breaking strain of the rock, and movement occurrs. This is the earthquake. So now a major re-arrangement of the stress field has taken place. Stress has been relieved at the location of the quake through the release of kinetic energy. But the stress is now focused on a different location, and some of the rearranged stress is disippated by movement on other faults. And it is wholly possible that that is what has happened here. So consider that before shooting down the opinion of Thailand's 'experts', who are probably PhD graduates in geology or geophysics and know a whole lot more than you or me about the local tectonic arrangements. They are the ones looking at the seismic recording instruments, and the ones who know how to interpret the data. And for your info I am career geophysicist living in Patong, although I am presently off seekig hydrocarbon accumulations in East Africa. Pity I missed all the action, again.

Fair enough. For the record that makes all these Phuket quakes aftershocks of the Sumatra quake.

.

Edited April 17, 2012 by NomadJoe

[lungmi]

I have been through countless earthquakes here in California and several in Japan and I have never heard of one accompanied by an audible "boom" as so many people have reported. Someone needs to check with the military and see if they were flying supersonic jets around Phuket today.

When I lived in Nevada, I heard one that was centered about a mile away. I barely felt it. I have also experienced sonic booms, and the noise is quite different. The Nevada one I experienced was a slightly echo-y "clunk". Hard to describe.

In the Black Forest area of Germany we have 20 to 40 small earthquakes every year (Rhine sluice). Most are not felt, but one night I waked up by a big bang- no damage, no supersonic airplane.

[ttelise]

Well actually the Phuket quake should not be on USGS in the first place as this is what it says on the USGS site:

Latest Earthquakes Magnitude 2.5 or Greater in the United States and Adjacent Areas and Magnitude 4.5 or Greater in the Rest of the World - Last 7 days

So a 4.3 in the rest of the world is not supposed to be listed.

(Actually <4.5 quakes from all over the world ARE listed).

This is the Phuket one I assume:

MAP 3.9 2012/04/16 09:44:26 8.093 98.573 10.1 MALAY PENINSULA, THAILAND

Ah dude, don't ruin it for all of the paranoid conspiracist.

[LivinginKata]

A number of off topic (wrong topic) posts removed

[BigJohnnyBKK]

I wonder why such a difference in witness reports and also by official Thai reporting.

Human awareness of earth movements is very individual, both in noticing them and judging their power.

I think it's more due to the variation in ground composition in different locations. If you're in a concrete building with foundations set in the granite that's jumping you'll certainly notice it. A few km away sitting on a beach or other soggy ground, basically floating on the water table, not so much.

Question...Why in hell would the USCG even give a crap regarding what happens in Thailand...?

It's called "science" - earthquake activity doesn't follow the little lines drawn on our maps.

Some would say the US is the "policeman of the world" when it comes to earthquakes. Japan also put a lot of resources into the topic, and both governments make their data available internationally.

They only bother doing in-depth analysis on a small subset of events, and of course this takes time.

And it is true that the science is not well advanced as yet, the whole theory of tectonic plates only began to be accepted as plausible in the last 40-50 years.

Edited April 18, 2012 by BigJohnnyBKK

[TeddyFlyfisherDavis]

I wonder why such a difference in witness reports and also by official Thai reporting.

Human awareness of earth movements is very individual, both in noticing them and judging their power.

I think it's more due to the variation in ground composition in different locations. If you're in a concrete building with foundations set in the granite that's jumping you'll certainly notice it. A few km away sitting on a beach or other soggy ground, basically floating on the water table, not so much.

Question...Why in hell would the USCG even give a crap regarding what happens in Thailand...?

It's called "science" - earthquake activity doesn't follow the little lines drawn on our maps.

Some would say the US is the "policeman of the world" when it comes to earthquakes. Japan also put a lot of resources into the topic, and both governments make their data available internationally.

They only bother doing in-depth analysis on a small subset of events, and of course this takes time.

And it is true that the science is not well advanced as yet, the whole theory of tectonic plates only began to be accepted as plausible in the last 40-50 years.

Agreed 100%..I am just glad that nothing happened and everyone had a nice holiday...A repeat of the tsunami devastation in that area or anywhere would be horrific...

[Ferangled]

East coast of Phuket, from what appears to be adjacent to marked location of known fault line, we felt quite a shake on the 4.3 for a few seconds, no longer (love how this has become a minute for the OP!), but accompanied by a very loud booming noise, like thunder. Thought it was a very sudden, very severe storm at first but the ground was moving a bit too much...

Pretty sure the epicenter wasn't Thalang Phuket, although that's being widely reported. It makes more sense to me that it would be the fault line just off the east coast, running up through Phang Nga. That also fits in with the reported accuracy of the readings.

It was also definitely a separate incident to the Sumatra quakes; someone I was with actually noticed the 2nd, as it happened, although I could not. So to some sensitive individuals they could certainly be felt all the way here in Phuket but barely and distinctly different to the house shaking thunder from the local quake.

I don't like to speculate as to the whether the earthquakes here and off Sumatra were linked but I also don't believe in coincidence. I'm also not convinced that this is a subject that many of the "experts" have that much authority on, given the relative rarity of these events and disparity of published "information".

At least the link with tsunami is now widely acknowledged and awareness is raised, even if prediction/ warning systems need improving.