Tsunami detection buoys deviate from their positions, and the Thai government is ready to replace them in response to future disasters

Recently, the volcanic eruption on the seabed of the Aha Apay Island volcano in Tongahun triggered a moderate-intensity transoceanic tsunami, and countries such as Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the United States have distributed tsunami warnings, prompting Thailand to prepare for future tsunamis. The Government found that one of the two tsunami detection buoys it had set up had deviated from its position.

Thai Prime Minister Prayut Prayut has instructed the country's relevant agencies to pay close attention to the development of the tsunami caused by the volcanic eruption in Tonga and ensure that Thailand's disaster early warning system can work properly, according to Thailand's "National Newspaper" reported on January 18. Prayut also instructed relevant government agencies to communicate with each other and be prepared to mitigate the disaster in the event of a tsunami caused by a volcanic eruption. He had previously instructed agencies to maintain contact with Pacific countries that could be affected by the tsunami and to issue a timely warning to Thai citizens living in the area.

Thai government deputy spokesman Traisulee Traisoranakul said the eruption of Aha Apai Island in Tongahun triggered tsunami warnings and response recommendations from several countries in the Pacific, including American Samoa, New Zealand, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, Australia, Japan and the United States.

Traisoranaku added that because the volcano is also about 9,500 kilometers away from Thailand's southernmost coast, the narathiwat coast, the eruption has not had any impact on Thailand, but Thailand's National Disaster Warning Center is monitoring the situation and will provide regular updates.

The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation of the Ministry of the Interior of Thailand said that Thailand currently has 2 tsunami detection buoys, one in the Indian Ocean and one in the Andaman Sea. Buoys in the Indian Ocean warn about 2 hours before a tsunami hits Thailand, while buoys in the Andaman Sea provide warnings 45 minutes in advance. The Office for Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said the buoys in the Indian Ocean were in normal working condition at the moment, but the buoys in the Andaman Sea had deviated from their positions, and the department was preparing to replace the buoys in the Andaman Sea.

According to the New York Times reported on the 18th, on the 14th and 15th, the submarine volcano of Aha Apay Island in Tongahun erupted violently, triggering a tsunami warning in many countries in the South Pacific and the west coast of the United States, and brought surging waves to the coastal areas of many countries.

Public information shows that on December 26, 2004, an earthquake measuring 9.1 to 9.3 on the Richter scale struck off the coast of Sumatra, Indonesia, triggering a huge tsunami that killed more than 227,000 people in 14 countries, including about 8,000 in Thailand.

Source: The Paper