Concern over tsunami warning system

Posted by admin on December 13th, 2009 filed in Activities, Beach life, Living here, The locals, Tourist tips

THERE is growing alarm that the lessons of the 2004 Tsunami have still not been learnt and thousands are at still risk by the lack of a reliable warning system.

Around 230,000 people perished in the Boxing Day disaster and tens of thousands of those lives could have been saved if mechanisms existed to advise populations of the impending peril.

And five years after the catastrophe questions are being asked whether the region is ready for an incident on a similar scale.

Geologists have expressed surprise that the Jakarta earthquake of September 30 was not accompanied by a tsunami warning.

The 7.9-magnitude quake killed more than 1,100 people on land and also triggered a minor tsunami, but no warning was issued.

And a tsunami warning buoy donated by the US and located off the coast of Sumatra has not been working for most of the year after its battery expired.

The 2004 Boxing Day tsunami was triggered by an earthquake measuring 9.2 on the Richter scale in the ocean by Sumatra. It was an unusual vertical lift as two tectonic plates collide that caused the huge wave which claimed lives in 11 countries across the region.

Despite many local deaths in Phuket, there are no plans for commemorative event to mark the occasion on the resort island.