US embassy cable - 05BANGKOK4796

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 BANGKOK 004796 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DEPT FOR OES/PCI ASTEWART 
DEPT FOR EAP/BCLTV MHIGGINS 
DEPT FOR OES/O/OA 
DEPT FOR IO/LAGON/ROEDER/BOOTH 
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO NOAA DAS BREMMAN 
DEPT PLEASE PASS TO OSTP/GWHITNEY/DIRECTOR MARBURGER 
USAID FOR ANE/AA JKUNDER, ANE/ESA, OFDA 
KATHMANDU FOR KOCH 
 
E.O. 12958: N/A 
TAGS: TPHY, TSPL, PREL, SENV, EAID, KSCA, TH 
SUBJECT: CORRECTED VERSION: THAILAND'S NATIONAL DISASTER 
WARNING CENTER PASSES FIRST REAL TEST OF TSUNAMI EARLY 
WARNING CAPABILITY 
 
This is a revised version of Bangkok 4777, correcting an 
error in the timeline in paragraph 2. 
 
1. Summary: Thailand's new National Disaster Warning Center 
(NDWC) issued a "Tsunami Watch" immediately following the 
7.2 Richter magnitude earthquake near Nicobar Island in the 
Indian Ocean late at night on July 24.  The "watch" prompted 
local officials to evacuate residents and tourists in some 
coastal areas.  About ninety minutes after the initial watch 
was issued, the NDWC issued an "all clear."  This first real 
test of Thailand's early warning system demonstrated a much 
improved capability than existed prior to the December 26 
tsunami.  End summary. 
 
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Tsunami Alert Timeline 
 
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2. At 10:42 p.m. (Thailand time) on July 24, an earthquake 
measuring 7.2 on the Richter Scale took place about 135 km 
west of the Nicobar Islands in the Indian Ocean, 665 
kilometers west of Thailand's Andaman Coast.  At 10:52 p.m., 
the NDWC received its first communication that an earthquake 
had occurred - in the form of an e-mail from the Malaysian 
Meteorological Agency.  Within minutes, the NDWC received 
further information on the earthquake from its own computer 
systems monitoring the websites of the U.S. Geological 
Service, the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center (Hawaii), the 
Japan Meteorological Agency, the Europe Meteorological 
Service Center, and GEOFON of Germany, and Thailand's own 
Meteorological Department, which has inland earthquake 
detection centers. 
 
3. By 11:00 p.m., within ten minutes of first learning about 
the quake, NDWC staff were notifying the Prime Minister, 
governors, local authorities, and Provincial Disaster 
Prevention Offices in six Andaman Coast Provinces by phone. 
At 11:10 p.m., from a booth located in the NDWC hooked up 
with a special link to pre-empt Thai television channels, 
Dr. Plodprasop Suraswadi, head of the NDWC, issued a 
"Tsunami Watch" on live television.  Within the next hour, 
Dr. Plodprasop appeared on television twice more with 
updated information, including the estimated time, 12:12 
a.m., of when a tsunami, if one existed, might hit 
Thailand's shores. 
 
4. Although Plodprasop's announcement was a "tsunami watch" 
rather than a "tsunami warning," the governors of Phuket, 
Phang Nga, and Krabi Provinces (hard hit by last December's 
tsunami) took no chances.  Three newly constructed warning 
 
SIPDIS 
towers on the beach in Phuket were activated, and the order 
was given to evacuate local residents and tourists to inland 
areas.  In all, more than three thousand people in high-risk 
areas were evacuated.  At least 5000 other people living 
along the coast fled their homes to higher ground as a 
result of the television broadcasts.  Although one traffic 
accident with injuries was reported and one newspaper 
described the area as "chaotic," for the most part, the 
evacuations were orderly carried out and without incident. 
 
5. At 1:20 a.m., after reviewing data on the websites that 
indicated the quake was caused by a lateral plate movement 
rather than a vertical plate movement (only vertical plate 
movements cause tsunamis) and after Thailand's single tidal 
gauge device detected no indication of any big waves, the 
NDWC cancelled the tsunami watch, and people returned to 
their homes. 
6. In an interview July 25, Prime Minister Thaksin said he 
was "satisfied" with the implementation of the early warning 
procedures.  According to Thai newspapers, local residents 
of the coastal area also feel the warning system worked 
well, and that they feel safer. 
 
Thailand's Early Warning System 
------------------------------- 
7. Thailand's NDWC was opened May 30, five months after the 
devastating December 26 tsunami which killed more than 5300 
people on Thailand's Andaman Coast.  Supplied with $750,000 
worth of communication equipment from a group of American 
software firms, it monitors a number of international 
scientific websites and collects seismic data from numerous 
sources with an aim to send out a warning within fifteen 
minutes of receiving information about a possible tsunami. 
The NDWC has the authority to issue alerts on television 
without seeking prior permission from the Prime Minister or 
any other governmental authority. 
 
8. The NDWC has three categories of immediate tsunami alerts 
based the Richter Scale magnitude of the earthquake: An 
"Advisory" is issued for earthquakes measuring between 5.0 
and 6.9; a "Watch" is issued for quakes measuring between 
7.0 and 7.7; and a "Warning" is issued for any quake 
measuring 7.8 or greater.  The alerts can be modified or 
cancelled based on additional information received, such as 
whether the cause of the earthquake was a lateral or 
vertical plate movement or what type of wave activity is 
detected by tidal gauges.  Thailand has one tidal gauge in 
operation near Similan Island and wishes to purchase 
additional buoys from the United States. 
9. Provincial Disaster Prevention Offices, under the 
Ministry of Interior, in consultation with the provincial 
governors, decide whether or not to evacuate coastal areas, 
based on information from the NDWC.  A large-scale 
evacuation drill was carried out in Phuket in April. 
Construction of 62 warning towers with loudspeakers to 
broadcast evacuation instructions is ongoing at various 
beach locations, but so far only three have been completed. 
 
Comment 
------- 
10. The first notification from Malaysia demonstrated a 
degree of international coordination that did not exist 
prior to last December.  The NDWC mobilized with 
extraordinary speed, alerting local officials within 10 
minutes and broadcasting a live television alert within 20 
minutes of first learning of the earthquake.  Local 
officials evacuated thousands of people and returned them to 
their homes in a relatively orderly fashion.  Thailand 
passed this first real test of its tsunami early warning 
system - from detection to communication to evacuation - 
with unqualified success. 
Boyce