Phuket earthquakes: prepare for the worst, says expert

[webfact]

Phuket earthquakes: prepare for the worst, says expert
Suthicha Sirirat


Dr Smith warned Phuket future earthquake.

PHUKET: -- Dr Smith Dharmasaroja, the man who warned Thailand to prepare for disaster before the 2004 Asian Tsunami devastated the Andaman Coast, has urged Phuket officials and residents to prepare for the worst in case a severe earthquake strikes.

Dr Smith delivered his warning as guest speaker at a disaster-preparedness seminar held at the Vichit Municipality offices yesterday (June 25).

As chief of the Thailand National Disaster Warning Centre, Dr Smith heads the agency responsible for issuing nationwide warnings for calamities of all kinds, including floods, earthquakes and tsunamis.

“If tremors are strong, we will suffer a lot of damage to life and property. We must be prepared for the worst, and in Thailand we have been experiencing more and more earthquakes,” he said.

Dr Smith warned people in areas along Phuket’s east coast to be especially aware of impending danger.

The Klong Marui fault line runs off the east coast of Phuket, and has been the epicentre of minor earthquakes earlier this year, he pointed out. (See story here)

“We cannot predict earthquakes, but we can prepare for them,” Dr Smith said.

“We can educate our people, including children, the elderly and the handicapped, about such disasters, and what to do if such an event occurs, including how evacuation procedures work.”

Dr Smith urged all government departments to be ready to respond to all emergency situations.

Local municipalities should have emergency-broadcast systems in place to warn people, “Especially those exposed to danger from earthquakes along the Klong Marui fault,” he said.

Source: http://www.thephuketnews.com/phuket-earthquakes-prepare-for-the-worst-says-expert-52934.php


-- Phuket News 2015-06-26

[Anthony5]

Another one who wants his 5 minutes of fame.

Better he resorts to predicting lottery numbers.

[NongKhaiKid]

Standby for TAT, an earthquake will not affect tourism.

[trogers]

Being prepared is prudent as a fault line is within tens of kilometres away.

Can't imagine what would happen to those developments built on cliffs...

Another incident like the one at Highland Towers, Malaysia?

Edited June 26, 2015 by trogers

[Elfin]

Warning, Dr Smith! Warning!

[eisfeld]

Another one who wants his 5 minutes of fame.

Better he resorts to predicting lottery numbers.

Sometimes I wish I could downvote postings on TV and I don't mean the threads original posting.

[jko]

Another one who wants his 5 minutes of fame.

Better he resorts to predicting lottery numbers.

Did you look at Dr Smith's qualifications and experience?

Dr. Smith Dharmasaroja is currently Chairman of the Foundation of National Disaster Warning Council, Former Chairman of the Committee for the Development of an Early Warning System, Former Chairman of the Committee on the National Disaster Warning Administration, Former Vice Minister to the Office of the Prime Minister, Proficiency Adviser to Bureau of Royal Rainmaking and the Honorary Adviser to Rajaprajanugroh Foundation under the Royal Patronage.

He obtained his Ph.D. (geography) from Thaksin University, Songkhla, Thailand

and BSEE (Electrical Engineering) from University of Vermont, U.S.A.

He obtained Master of Arts in National Defense College of Thailand, Studies, Research and Training on Meteorology, Geophysics, Climatology, Hydrometeorology and Meteorological – Telecommunication System, in Australia, China, England, Japan, New Zealand and USA.

Work Experience

Private Enterprise - Electrical Engineer Harco Englneering, CA, USA

Government Service - Vice Minister to The Office of The Prime Minister

• Director-General, Meteorological Department (8yrs)
• Director-General, Post and Telegraph Department (1yr)
• Deputy Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Transport (1yr) And Communications.

Past Positions

• Member of the National Earthquake Committee of Thailand
• Chairman of the Communications Authority of Thailand
• President of The New Bangkok International Airport Co Ltd.

Past Positions (International)

• Permanent Representative of Thailand with World Meteorological Organization
• Coordinator, WMO/ESCAP¹ Panel on Tropical Cyclone for the Bay of Bengal and the Arabian Sea
• Chairman, ASEAN Subcommittee on Meteorology and Geophysics
• Expert, The Working Group on Metrological Telecommunication System for WMO Regional Association II (Asia)

See also:

http://www.seapa.org/?p=3210

http://www.internationalist.org/disasterforetold0501.html

[soalbundy]

With the warning,which will go unheeded, he has covered his butt

[midasthailand]

Well I read his namecard as Dr. Samit Thammasarot not Dr. Smith? I was not aware of the fault line running off the east coast of Phuket....now I am! He certainly is well credentialed. Let us all hope there is not another disaster of the same magnitude as the Boxing day Tsunami.

[Guest]

The fault line has given small 4.x quakes in the past. I read earlier from somewhere else, that this drill is to prepare how to tackle possible damages if we are hit with 5.x quake. Still small quakes, which however might do some damages to the buildings.

Nothing wrong of training for such event as the skills learned from the drill could be reused in cases if a building collapses for other reasons.

[KarenBravo]

Lots of small earthquakes is a much better option to relieve the fault-line stress than one big earthquake.

Think of these small earthquakes as a safety valve.

[Alwyn]

Well I read his namecard as Dr. Samit Thammasarot not Dr. Smith? I was not aware of the fault line running off the east coast of Phuket....now I am! He certainly is well credentialed. Let us all hope there is not another disaster of the same magnitude as the Boxing day Tsunami.

The Dr Smith was a reference to 'Lost in Space'.. You need to be familiar with the original series to understand the connection

[jobwolf]

Another one who wants his 5 minutes of fame.

Better he resorts to predicting lottery numbers.

Now this is a really stupid remark.

[Lupatria]

Another one who wants his 5 minutes of fame.

Better he resorts to predicting lottery numbers.

chief of the Thailand National Disaster Warning Centre

Where was he before the last coup? Have a pixeled glass bowl sometimes?

Edited June 26, 2015 by Lupatria

[ResandePohm]

Well I read his namecard as Dr. Samit Thammasarot not Dr. Smith? I was not aware of the fault line running off the east coast of Phuket....now I am! He certainly is well credentialed. Let us all hope there is not another disaster of the same magnitude as the Boxing day Tsunami.

Does Phuket have an East coast?

[KarenBravo]

Well I read his namecard as Dr. Samit Thammasarot not Dr. Smith? I was not aware of the fault line running off the east coast of Phuket....now I am! He certainly is well credentialed. Let us all hope there is not another disaster of the same magnitude as the Boxing day Tsunami.

Does Phuket have an East coast?

Islands usually do.........

[Stargeezr]

I have been to Phuket both before and after the Tsunami , and I can say that I do know

quite a few people who live in Phuket who will never forget what damage the tsunami

did, and the lives that were lost. My relative who lives new the Phuket city, has been totally

affected by that horrible day. Him and his family helped others get around, and also helped with

rebuilding and recovery work after the wave struck. I was driven around to most of the beaches that were

damaged, and I seen many pictures of the devastation at Kamala Beach, Kata and Karon beaches, Patong Beach

and many others. I am glad that some people are still educating the others to get ready for the next

earthquake, and possible next tsunami that may happen again. Better to be prepared than to be on the

beach and everybody is running away and you just say, " Hey why is the water all draining back into the

Ocean?"

[xylophone]

"Prepare for the worst" and "We can educate our people, including children, the elderly and the handicapped, about such disasters, and what to do if such an event occurs, including how evacuation procedures work".

Nice words, but the reality is a lot different...........

Can't remember exactly when it was but perhaps two or three years ago there was a tremor in Patong and it was big enough to be felt by most people, so folk followed the signs leading to the evacuation route(s) and chaos ensued (I know I was caught in the middle of this debacle).

The problem was that many of the evacuation instructions lead people to Nanai Road which was absolutely solid with traffic, I say solid because nothing was moving and the cyclists were trying to get in and out of the traffic (no room for motorcyclists even) and some of them actually abandoned their cycles and walked up into the hills. It was so chock-a-block that some motorists could not even open their car doors to get out, although some had managed to and had abandoned their cars.

It was an absolute mess/absolute chaos and had there been a major earthquake, this particular evacuation route would have trapped thousands of people.

I took a walk down a couple of roads leading towards the beach and there were signs of panic everywhere, with cycles and a few motorbikes just dropped where they were, various shoes discarded in the effort to run faster and the place absolutely devoid of people.

So much for being prepared for an earthquake, because what they have in place at the moment, simply does not work. Someone with some common sense needs to re-evaluate the evacuation routes, but then common sense is a commodity in short supply here.

[hugh2121]

"“We can educate our people, including children"

[Felt 35]

Strong enough earthquake here come to make Phuket Island fall like a house of cards and panic come to spread as fire. Its more than financial reasons to why the government are quick to dismiss any news and info about natural disasters and diseases.

[Valentine]

Another one who wants his 5 minutes of fame.

Better he resorts to predicting lottery numbers.

Many years ago this same guy issued a tsunami warning, he did not specify exactly when. Everyone headed for the hills but no tsunami came on that day. He was fired from his job as a doomsayer as it would affect tourism. Not long afterwards came Boxing Day 2004.

[LivinginKata]

Many years ago this same guy issued a tsunami warning, he did not specify exactly when. Everyone headed for the hills but no tsunami came on that day. He was fired from his job as a doomsayer as it would affect tourism. Not long afterwards came Boxing Day 2004.

Well ... what's that well know 'truth' ... a broken clock is right twice every day.

[Guest]

Strong enough earthquake here come to make Phuket Island fall like a house of cards and panic come to spread as fire. Its more than financial reasons to why the government are quick to dismiss any news and info about natural disasters and diseases.

That could be true, but strong enough earthquakes don't usually happen anywhere in the world. Our planet's faults are quite well known, as well as how fast one continental plate is moving compared to others.

[DividendGuy]

If there is a fault line running down the east coast of Phuket island then common sense tells you not to buy a home or live anywhere near that area. I personally would not live near a beach too, because if this area ever has a major earthquake then you are going to be dealt with by Mother Nature harshly and she can throw many types of disasters at you. If you are going to live in the greater Phuket area find out which areas are consider safe from these types of problems. When the floods hit Bangkok in 2011, we stayed dry because we checked to make sure we weren't buying in lowlands that have ever flooded.

[NamKangMan]

If there is a fault line running down the east coast of Phuket island then common sense tells you not to buy a home or live anywhere near that area. I personally would not live near a beach too, because if this area ever has a major earthquake then you are going to be dealt with by Mother Nature harshly and she can throw many types of disasters at you. If you are going to live in the greater Phuket area find out which areas are consider safe from these types of problems. When the floods hit Bangkok in 2011, we stayed dry because we checked to make sure we weren't buying in lowlands that have ever flooded.

"we checked to make sure we weren't buying in lowlands that have ever flooded" - with global climate change, the "highlands" are now becoming "lowlands."

[KarenBravo]

If there is a fault line running down the east coast of Phuket island then common sense tells you not to buy a home or live anywhere near that area. I personally would not live near a beach too, because if this area ever has a major earthquake then you are going to be dealt with by Mother Nature harshly and she can throw many types of disasters at you. If you are going to live in the greater Phuket area find out which areas are consider safe from these types of problems. When the floods hit Bangkok in 2011, we stayed dry because we checked to make sure we weren't buying in lowlands that have ever flooded.

Please tell us how you find out what areas are safe from an earthquake?

You do know Phuket is small, right? It's not going to be like one village is safe and another isn't.

Also for your info, most earthquakes, even major ones, don't produce tsunamis. The slip has to be vertical. Most earthquakes the slip is horizontal.