The reports followed the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Director-General Chaiyapol Titisak in Bangkok Saturday (Mar 23) issuing an internal notice to officials all along Andaman coast to be monitor the situation following two earthquakes in the Andaman Islands.
Of the two earthquakes, one at 6:29pm measured 5.0 in magnitude and the other, at 6:34pm, measured 5.2.
Mr Chaiyapol specifically urged officials in the provinces of Ranong, Phang Nga, Phuket, Krabi, Trang and Satun to monitor the situation in case a tsunami alert needed to be issued.
“The notice issued was only to ensure officials were monitoring the earthquake situation. It just urged officials to do their duties and be aware of the situation,” Prapan Kanprasang, chief of the DDPM Phuket Provincial office (DDPM-Phuket) told The Phuket News today.
“There is nothing to be worried about concerning a tsunami. These earthquakes were normal. They were not anywhere near 7M or 7.5M in strength. Tourists can come to travel (here) as per normal,” he said.
The National Disaster Warning Center (NDWC) based in Bangkok also confirmed the same clarification with a formal announcement earlier today.
“Regarding the earthquake observation notice on March 23, the rumours are incorrect from the facts,” the NDWC said.
“The cause of the (Andaman Islands) earthquakes is the normal movement of the Indian plate and the Eurasia plate.
“Normally, earthquakes must be more than 7.5M with normal fault movement in order to cause a tsunami, but these earthquakes were not strong enough to create a tsunami,” the NDWC explained.