Indonesia Earthquake/Thailand Tsunami Visuals

BANGKOK: A small tsunami measuring 10 centimeters (four inches) reached Thailand‘s Andaman Coast on Wednesday after a massive earthquake off the coast of Indonesia, an official said.

“A 10-centimetre tsunami wave generated by the first earthquake hit Koh Miang off Phang Nga,” the director of Thailand’s National Disaster Warning Center, Somsak Khaosuwan, said on Thai television.

Thailand’s national disaster prevention centre issued a tsunami warning for six southern provinces along the Anadaman coast on Wednesday after a huge earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia.

People in Phuket, Krabi, Ranong, Phangnga, Trang and Satun were ordered to move to higher ground because of a possible tsunami, an official with Thailand’s National Disaster Prevention Centre told Reuters by telephone.

According to eTN Sources in Phuket no devastating tsunami hit the Thai coast line.
Local authorities warn tourists in Phuket to only consider going down to the coast when no major waves have hit 2 hours after the estimated arrival time.

Olivier Dombey observes from Phuket ” The first waves on Kata Beach. But nothing serious so far.

martijn Rosdorff ‏reports from Phuket at 17.47h local time. My wife spotted two ‘big tsunami waves rolling in’ at Patong Beach just now! (17.47 local.
A Phuket tour operator and tourism officials confirmed all hotels moved guests to higher ground.

Another eTN reader observed a relative small wave of 4-5 meters that hit at 18:16h local time

More reports are coming in stating the water receded – no major damages are visible at this time.

eTN readers are reporting helicopter were circling the coast line.
ANother reader told eTN about a huge wave coming in slowly on the horizon, but nothing much happened on the coast line.

Readers from Krabi observed local villagers to be taken to schools for prayers. A visitor from the U.K. commented on the beautiful sunset from up the hill in Krabi.

Earlier a tsunami warning and evacuation order were issued by disaster prevention authorities in the southern Thai provinces of Phuket and Phangnga on Wednesday after a huge earthquake struck off the coast of Indonesia.

“The province has turned on the warning sirens and asked people all over Phuket island to move to a safe place,” an official from the Phuket Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Centre told Reuters by telephone. The Phuket airport closed as a precaution.

An official from the warning centre Phangnga told Reuters: “We warn people in every district to evacuate immediately because there is a possibility of a tsunami.”

Phuket and Phangnga are provinces popular with tourists and were among those hit by the 2004 Indian Ocena tsunami that killed more than 5,000 people in Thailand.

The order, following a warning from the Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre, was aimed particularly at people in tourist provinces of Phuket, Krabi and Phangnga, which are high risk, to evacuate to high ground far away from the sea shore.

The other three provinces on the western coast are Satun, Trang and Songkhla, but they are at less risk.

The massive earthquake was felt in many parts of Thailand including Bangkok.

Telephone signals were reported to have been disrupted in some areas.
Smith Dhammasaroj, former chief of the Meteorological Department, said a tsunami could possibly hit the six provinces on the western coast this evening.

Somsak Khaosuwan, director of the National Disaster Warning Centre, said waves about one metre high would possibly reach Phuket about 5.40pm.

For the sake of safety, people living along the western coastline are advised to evacuate immediately, he said.

The Electricity Generating Authority of Thailand insisted that the Egat dams remain strong following the strong earthquake.
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