BANGKOK, July 7 (TNA) – The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation and the Meteorological Department have confirmed that their tsunami warning system remained effective despite damaged tsunami-warning buoys.
Boontham Lertsukheekasem, director-general of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, and Chomparee Chompurat, director-general of the Meteorological Department, on Wednesday held an urgent press conference in response to repeated quakes in the Andaman Sea, rumors about a tsunami threat to provinces facing the Andaman Sea and concerns among local people and tourists.
They said that frequent earthquakes in the Andaman Sea from July 4 to 6 were tremors and did not cause a tsunami.
However, officials concerned were not reckless and were monitoring closely earthquakes and waves, the directors-general said.
Although two tsunami-warning buoys of Thailand were detached from their moorings, Thailand could still depend on the warning systems of nearby countries, they said.
A tsunami could emerge only if there was an earthquake with the magnitudes of 7.8 and over and existing warning systems could detect such quakes, they said.
The National Disaster Warning Center operated around the clock and people who would go on vacation during long holidays in the middle of this month could rest assured that officials were always ready to issue warnings and recommend evacuation when that was necessary, both directors-general said. (TNA)
