Tsunami warning buoy off Phuket out of action ‘until November’
Chanida Summast

The tsunami-detection buoy installed about 1,100km off Phuket two years ago is no longer working. Disaster officials believe the battery is dead, and cannot replace it until November. photo: NDWC

PHUKET: -- Thailand’s sole deep-water tsunami-warning buoy is out of action and will not be replaced until November, but is no cause for alarm, the National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) told The Phuket News today (June 20).

Rear-Admiral Thaworn Charoendee, expert oceanographer at the NDWC, today confirmed that the nation’s tsuanmi-warning centre was aware that the buoy, located about 1,100km off the Andaman coast, has not been transmitting data for at least three months.

“We believe the battery on the buoy has died,” said R/Adm Thaworn.

“We cannot replace it until the (southwest) monsoon is over, in about Novemeber. The saeas are too rough right now, even for a large ship to recover the current buoy and replace it with a functioning one,” he said.

The buoy, technically called a Deep-Ocean Assessment and Reporting of Tsunami (DART) buoy, was installed over two years ago, after the previous DART buoy was found adrift. At the time, experts noted that the buoy would have a usable life of about two years. (See story here.)

“The NDWC has only one (deep-water) tsunami buoy in action at any one time,” R/Adm Thaworn explained. “We have a second one that we use when the one in the ocean needs repairs or maintenance.”

Replacing the DART buoy with a functioning will cost about B20 million, he added.

Full Story: http://www.thephuketnews.com/tsunami-warning-buoy-off-phuket-out-of-action-until-november-57939.php#1kAdZZ5qyj8aRZuI.97

-- Phuket News 2016-06-20

Surprise Surprise - NOT

Only one Tsuanami in the Indian Ocean in recorded history.

No one alive today will see another one.

Relax.

Only one Tsuanami in the Indian Ocean in recorded history.

No one alive today will see another one.

Relax.

You should really have attended the "Probability, Statistics and Random Processes" course in high school (or is it college?), you know

You could have one in over a century then two in the same year without violating any mathematical law. At least that's what I've learned in these courses. I must admit that I was bad at this but still I think that's correct.

Back to the topic: how can one imagine that these expensive devices don't send alerts weeks if not months before the battery dies? based on voltage, charge current curves of whatever... even notebook computers can do this. But of course, there must be someone to act to these alerts before the battery actually dies and yes, this is Thailand so...

Bit like Australia quite some years ago it was discovered the Early Air Raid Warning System on the Northern Coast was "Closed" on

Weekends.

Seems they figured any would-be attacker would want to have a holiday on Saturday and Sunday.

I wonder how much a back-up would cost?

Still, knowing the way things work here they'd install the batteries at the same time so they both die together.

So did the monsoons start 3 months ago, and will continue for another 6 months? In other words, lets until its too late!

There's plenty of periods of calm seas throughout the monsoon season and in the 21st century there's some weather modeling applications that can pretty accurately predict these allowing plenty of time to get change out the battery.

Only one Tsuanami in the Indian Ocean in recorded history.

No one alive today will see another one.

Relax.

You should really have attended the "Probability, Statistics and Random Processes" course in high school (or is it college?), you know

You could have one in over a century then two in the same year without violating any mathematical law. At least that's what I've learned in these courses. I must admit that I was bad at this but still I think that's correct.

Not so much mathematical probability, more plate tectonics. You may have taken the wrong course to comment on this subject

Only one Tsuanami in the Indian Ocean in recorded history.

No one alive today will see another one.

Relax.

Bit like Australia quite some years ago it was discovered the Early Air Raid Warning System on the Northern Coast was "Closed" on

Weekends.

Seems they figured any would-be attacker would want to have a holiday on Saturday and Sunday.

Should ask our American cousins about that, Dec 7 1941 ring a bell anyone???

Another maths failure.

buoy, was installed over two years ago, after the previous DART buoy was found adrift. At the time, experts noted that the buoy would have a usable life of about two years. (See story here.)

So they installed it before the monsoon in 2014 (or late 2013). And if you know it is going to die by mid 2016, what do you do. Zip. TIT.

...wow....if you say so.....

Looks like they desperately need a third spare.

Bit like Australia quite some years ago it was discovered the Early Air Raid Warning System on the Northern Coast was "Closed" on

Weekends.

Seems they figured any would-be attacker would want to have a holiday on Saturday and Sunday.

Should ask our American cousins about that, Dec 7 1941 ring a bell anyone???

why go back so far