Wave Of Quake Concern Spreads Across Thailand

[webfact]

AFTERMATH

Wave of quake concern spreads across country

The Nation April 20

BANGKOK: -- The recent quakes in Phuket sparked concerns across the country over potential future disasters.

Discussions on earthquake emergencyresponse and disaster-prevention plans have since been held in many provinces.

"We are worried. Many of us have raised the issue of safety measures and earlywarning systems," South Tourism Federation secretary general Kannikar Eawsakun said yesterday.

The stampede of coastal residents and tourists on April 11 in the wake of the 8.6magnitude earthquake off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra has underlined the lack of adequate preparations.

"The scenes were chaotic. The authorities have not yet designated safe areas for evacuation," Kannikar said.

Samniang Maneerat, acting chief of Ranong's disaster prevention and mitigation, said there was no evacuation zones designated in Mueang Ranong district because the area was previously seen as safe.

"We will convene a meeting with relevant agencies to decide which areas should be declared muster points and safe zones," she said.

Bangkok Council president Suttichai Weerakulsunthorn said the tremor from the Phuket quake had been felt by people in highrise buildings in the capital.

"We may need to review laws related to quakes and fire," he said.

The owners of highrise buildings in Bangkok will also be invited to a meeting on emergency response and necessary measures, he added.

"Our teams from the Public Works Department will inspect skyscrapers in the capital to determine whether they have adequate systems to deal with earthquakes," Suttichai said.

In Mae Hong Son, the director of an irrigation project expressed concerns about the risk of a dam bursting in the wake of a big quake.

"Huai Mae Hong Song Dam would not be able to accommodate a quake measuring more than magnitude 7," Katanyu Janchuen said.

"If it bursts, water will swamp Mueang Mae Hong Son Municipality within 15 minutes," he said.

Deputy Prime Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit, however, urged the public not to be overly concerned. "Quakes happen in Japan frequently. Things may sway but people can live normal lives," he said.

-- The Nation 2012-04-20

[swifty5x5]

Things may sway. Japan has very stringent building codes. I afraid here it wouldbe more like pop goes the weasle and we all fall down.

[anterian]

A passing phase, Thais have short memories.

[Fatherfluffybottom]

Japans level of construction is aimed and designed for coping with these earthquakes, is the deputy prime minister indicating that thai construction is the same? i sure as hell am staying outdoors and away from buildings if we get something similar to what Japan has dealt with before!

[avalonmick]

A passing phase, Thais have short memories.

which is why nothing will ever be done until it's too late. Oh well, will make moving BKK to higher ground to avoid sea level rises an easier job.

[webfact]

Engineering Institute: Earthquake could strike in North, West

BANGKOK, 20 April 2012 (NNT) – The Engineering Institute of Thailand under His Majesty the King’s Patronage (EIT) said although Phuket is faced with several aftershocks, the province is safe from big quakes; but another earthquake could strike in the North or West instead.

The EIT said the 9.1-magnitude earthquake in 2004 and the 8.4-magnitude earthquake on April 11th in Indonesia have made a shift underground, releasing energy upward. The Indo-Australia Plate is moving toward the Eurasian Plate. It stated that the movement could cause an 8.5-9 on the Richter scale earthquake in deep water around Myanmar and Nicobar Islands. The quake could possibly create a tsunami.

The Institute explained that once the earthquake occurs, it would take two more hours before a tsunami hits Thailand’s Andaman coast, adding that the time of the earthquake is unpredictable, so people must be prepared.

As for the frequent minor quakes in Phuket, the expert does not worry about their impacts as the small tremors do not stimulate large quakes. However, the EIT warns residents in the North and West to be cautious about possible earthquake as the fault lines have collected tremendous energy, which is waiting to be released.

-- NNT 2012-04-20

[airport5]

Where the earthquake hit in Japan, their was considerable research on disaster prevention. Thousands of lives were saved due to this. America and other countries have a lot to learn from Japan.

[Ferangled]

Why does anyone expect Thai construction to have the same attention to earthquake protection as Japan?!

Japan suffers small quakes like that felt in Phuket regularly and has a long history of much larger earthquakes, thus this is factored into the construction methods used. Thailand does not, hence it isn't.

"We are worried. Many of us have raised the issue of safety measures and early warning systems,"

Accurate "early warning system" for prediction of earthquakes? Tsunami maybe but earthquakes, really?

As for safe evacuation zones, I really think people need to start using some common sense here. In the event of a large earthquake - open spaces, in the event of a tsunami - high ground. Check out the signs in areas that do have "Tsunami evacuation routes/ zones" , they simply point in the opposite direction to the beach! Pretty bloody obvious really...

[JohnAllan]

How many buildings, I wonder, would prove inadequate under any ". . . need to review laws related to quakes and fire," investigation? More importantly, how many would ultimately be forced to comply?

Meanwhile, Deputy PM Yongyuth Wichaidit wades once more into the fray, with another of his incomparable - and, unfortunately, all-too-often inaccurate - observations.

[geoffphuket]

Lets face it, Thai's aren't good at preventative maintainance on anything, let-alone building construction.

[asupeartea]

Lived for 12 years in Japan and Taiwan and experienced three earthquakes at 6-7, luckily not worse, and dozens at <6. My ex's home prefecture (province) had over one hundred 5+ EQs in 2004 wiping out 60,000+ homes. (the news got buried because of the U.S. Election.) Japanese building codes require the ability to withstand 7.5 earthquakes after Kobe. Thai buildings will crumble like houses of cards without enough structural integrity for time for anyone to escape. Snap. Crackle. Pop. Not even enough time to bend over and kiss your own A good-bye.

[Ferangled]

Lets face it, Thai's aren't good at preventative maintainance on anything, let-alone building construction.

Could you try to generalize a bit more?

I would love to hear how you think preventative maintenance is relevant to this topic.

Japan is a country that has experienced earthquakes throughout their history and construction methods have evolved as a result of this. Earthquakes aside, building standards are totally different because they have a totally different climate, more akin to the UK than Thailand, with seasonal winters, summers etc.

Thailand is a country that hasn't experienced earthquakes throughout their history, has a totally different climate with only two real seasons - hot and dry and hot and wet, so clearly construction has evolved down a completely different route. People have survived perfectly well in bamboo huts, because there were no environmental factors that prevented them from doing so. The same couldn't be said in either Japan or UK because you would freeze to death in the first winter.

Preventative maintenance will not transform a high rise built to Thai standards into a Japanese high rise designed and engineered specifically to be quake resistant. To suddenly moan that Thai buildings won't survive a large earthquake is senseless, no, of course they won't they're not designed to, you can hardly blame the Thais for that can you?

Sorry, this is TV ,of course you can but it doesn't make you any less of a t**t for doing so.

[BazilFox]

A passing phase, Thais have short memories.

I agree.

They have done nothing about flood prevention for Bangkok, that is the more likely scenario.

[h90]

Japans level of construction is aimed and designed for coping with these earthquakes, is the deputy prime minister indicating that thai construction is the same? i sure as hell am staying outdoors and away from buildings if we get something similar to what Japan has dealt with before!

and still Japan did not do so well if someone remember Fukushima

[h90]

A passing phase, Thais have short memories.

I think the floods are already complete forgotten...

[BrianCR]

Things may sway. Japan has very stringent building codes. I afraid here it wouldbe more like pop goes the weasle and we all fall down.

Deputy Prime Minister Yongyuth Wichaidit, however, urged the public not to be overly concerned. "Quakes happen in Japan frequently. Things may sway but people can live normal lives," he said. - I seem to be involved in an earthquake every night and I'm not overly concerned - mind you it could be the beer!

[toybits]

Looking at the way many buildings are built in Thailand, I just wish, I am not in one of them when a big one does strike. Fortunately in Northern Thailand, there are not too many tall buildings.

[silverhawk_usa]

I was sitting in my car, waiting to pick someone up from one of the downtown Chiang Mai hospitals when I couldn't help but think what would really occur if there was a major earthquake or other disaster in the city. It took me a very long time, picking my way through morning traffic, to get to the hospital. The emergency entrances had cars lined up waiting to drop or pick up patients. The miniscule number of emergency vehicles, coupled with the fact that many of the hospitals have only one way in or out (and that is generally congested) means........ If there is a major occurrence, let's just say it will be total mayhem, and don't expect much help for some time. Just sit and REALLY envision it in your mind once. It is a truly scary scenario.

[Thai at Heart]

So-called experts say people should be careful and aware, but amateurs talking about it lands you in jail. Hmmmmmm

[Jimjim]

Things may sway. Japan has very stringent building codes. I afraid here it wouldbe more like pop goes the weasle and we all fall down.

I'm sure a lot of the high rises in BKK were actually built by Japanese firms. That doesn't mean they would have made them earthquake safe like the buildings in Japan but I suppose there's a chance some of them did, aye?

But yes, I'm sure there are plenty of high buildings in Bangkok that are NOT safe, particularly a lot of the old apartment buildings around, I'd say. Would be a tragic disaster if a huge won hit Bangkok for sure.

Edited April 21, 2012 by Jimjim

[chrisinth]

Just picking up on a couple of lines from the article (my own viewpoint on this):

"We are worried. Many of us have raised the issue of safety measures and earlywarning systems," South Tourism Federation secretary general Kannikar Eawsakun said yesterday.

The stampede of coastal residents and tourists on April 11 in the wake of the 8.6magnitude earthquake off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra has underlined the lack of adequate preparations.

As far as I could see from reports, everybody was evacuated from the danger areas, which would indicate that the early warning system did in fact work. What was inappropriate during the warning was the fact that the Thai media channels did not broadcast the early warning, but stuck to the coverage of a funeral.

A lot better than pre-2004 anyway!

Samniang Maneerat, acting chief of Ranong's disaster prevention and mitigation, said there was no evacuation zones designated in Mueang Ranong district because the area was previously seen as safe.

"We will convene a meeting with relevant agencies to decide which areas should be declared muster points and safe zones," she said.

How is it possible to decide what area is safe and what is regarded as a danger area? I would agree to a certain extent that muster points and safe zones could be established, but to what end? Is someone going to have a checklist ticking people off as they arrive? This is a natural disaster we are talking about; if the epicenter is 50/100 miles away from where it is expected then other areas are going to be more at risk than those previously considered high risk.

"Our teams from the Public Works Department will inspect skyscrapers in the capital to determine whether they have adequate systems to deal with earthquakes," Suttichai said.

?? Given the difference in building codes for earthquake prone areas, what adequate systems are we talking about? What happens if a building doesn’t meet (but was constructed following correct building practice for the area) the so-called adequate systems? If they are talking about evacuation alarms, then good; but if they are talking about construction levels?