Reports Of Earthquake Flood Across Phuket

[webfact]

Breaking News: Reports of earthquake flood across Phuket

Phuket Gazette

PHUKET: Reports of an earthquake being felt across all parts of Phuket are flooding in to the Phuket Gazette.

Gazette staff felt the strong shudder at 4:45pm. Reports of other Phuket residents experiencing the same have been coming in from all parts of the island, including Chalong to the south, Phuket Town and Kathu in the center of the island and Kamala on the west coast.

-- Phuket Gazette 2012-04-16

[george]

MEMBER's LIVE REPORTS:

Huge quake felt on Kata Beach and in other parts of Phuket

http://www.thaivisa....e-here-in-kata/

[RichardinBKK]

MEMBER's LIVE REPORTS:

Huge quake felt on Kata Beach and in other parts of Phuket

http://www.thaivisa....e-here-in-kata/

Still laughing at the "expert" who predicted this on Friday???

[Soupdragon]

MEMBER's LIVE REPORTS:

Huge quake felt on Kata Beach and in other parts of Phuket

http://www.thaivisa....e-here-in-kata/

Still laughing at the "expert" who predicted this on Friday???

Yes actually, he predicted a huge earthquake in the Nicobar islands, this was just another aftershock from same area as the 8.6 off Sumatra.

[Stevenredd]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc00094q0.php

Amazing how much speculation goes on when people could just use the internet.

But reporting has never been about truth, just about selling newspapers (now, clicks).

[clockman]

Nothing on tv yet? about the quake!

[Xonax]

If the 5.3 afterquake today is huge, what was the 8.7 quake last week??

According to the Richter Scale a 5.3 quake is 4000 times weaker than a 8.7 quake, so definitely no need for a Tsunami warning.

Edited April 16, 2012 by Xonax

[moonbarman]

They said on channel 7 it was 5.5 richter which surprised me because last weeks 8.7 one only rumbled under my house but todays shook it quite violently albeit only for about 5 seconds whereas last week rumbled on for about a minute, typical my missus mega panic and wanting to run into the street lol.

[jerrysteve]

Was there no warning...No one on "watch" sort of speak? Amazing Thailand!

[deesquared]

If the 5.3 afterquake today is huge, what was the 8.7 quake last week??

According to the Richter Scale a 5.3 quake is 4000 times weaker than a 8.7 quake, so definitely no need for a Tsunami warning.

What matters is not so much the size of the quake but the TYPE of quake. Last weeks was a "strike-slip" quake which is not the type to cause tsunamis, despite it's massive size on the scale.

[ambros5]

There will be strong earthquake within this year which can create large tsunami. Three countries vast land will be wipe out with water.

[bluesmith]

http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/recenteqsww/Quakes/usc00094q0.php

See this link

[Pinot]

I read the title and thought God was out to get us. Flood as in many reports. Okay...just me?

[cdmtdm]

There will be strong earthquake within this year which can create large tsunami. Three countries vast land will be wipe out with water.

and your source of this information nostradamus ?

[bedrock]

Could be nice to think that some falang amongst us has some knowledge right......just scare tactics is what the press need so continue ....................I,m not impressed

[loong]

Rather thoughtless use of the word "Flood" in the title.

[george]

Rather thoughtless use of the word "Flood" in the title.

We are republishing stories, please don't blame us for headlines done by media we republish.

Cheers

[rockdoc]

If the 5.3 afterquake today is huge, what was the 8.7 quake last week??

According to the Richter Scale a 5.3 quake is 4000 times weaker than a 8.7 quake, so definitely no need for a Tsunami warning.

Not necessarily true! Whether a tsunami occurs or not depends on several factors other than just the intensity of the quake. Perhaps the most critical factor is the type of displacement across the two sides of the fault: if the movement is lateral i.e. horizontal (no vertical displacement) then a tsunami is unlikely to occur. If the "throw" on the fault line is vertical i.e. if there is upward/downward movement of the seabed across the fault line, then there is an increased likelihood of tsunami generation. Last weeks major (8.2) quake was of the former type (lateral wrench type faulting), which is why a tsunami didn't occur.

[allan michaud]

If the 5.3 afterquake today is huge, what was the 8.7 quake last week??

According to the Richter Scale a 5.3 quake is 4000 times weaker than a 8.7 quake, so definitely no need for a Tsunami warning.

Sorry but that's far too simplistic, the damage inflicted is directly related to the depth of the quake so on their own the numbers don't mean that much.

[allan michaud]

Rather thoughtless use of the word "Flood" in the title.

My thoughts exactly, I see no mention of floods

[JohanV]

There seems to have been two quakes. The Nation actually reports this:

National Disaster Warning Center on Monday said a quake hit Thailand on Monday and the epicenter was in Phuket's Thalang district.

Acting director Burin Wetchbantoeng said that an earthquake of 4.3 on the Richter scale hit in Phuket at 4.44pm with epicenter at Thalang district, while another quake, a 5.4-magnitude, west coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra two minutes later. The quakes that happened just two minutues apart initially caused confusion that the tremor felt in Phuket was from a quake in Indonesia.

Local residents in Phuket ran out in panic out of houses, buildings and department stores when the tremor took place. Some described the tremor this time was heavier that last week.

Edited April 16, 2012 by JohanV

[anterian]

If the 5.3 afterquake today is huge, what was the 8.7 quake last week??

According to the Richter Scale a 5.3 quake is 4000 times weaker than a 8.7 quake, so definitely no need for a Tsunami warning.

Sorry but that's far too simplistic, the damage inflicted is directly related to the depth of the quake so on their own the numbers don't mean that much.

Depth, direction of movement, vertical or horizontal, overlying rock structure, the Richter number is mainly a measure of energy release, not what that energy does.

[george]

There seems to have been two quakes. The Nation actually reports this:

National Disaster Warning Center on Monday said a quake hit Thailand on Monday and the epicenter was in Phuket's Thalang district.

Acting director Burin Wetchbantoeng said that an earthquake of 4.3 on the Richter scale hit in Phuket at 4.44pm with epicenter at Thalang district, while another quake, a 5.4-magnitude, west coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra two minutes later. The quakes that happened just two minutues apart initially caused confusion that the tremor felt in Phuket was from a quake in Indonesia.

Local residents in Phuket ran out in panic out of houses, buildings and department stores when the tremor took place. Some described the tremor this time was heavier that last week.

Moderate quake hit Phuket Monday

April 16, 2012 7:11 pm

National Disaster Warning Center on Monday said a quake hit Thailand on Monday and the epicenter was in Phuket's Thalang district.

Acting director Burin Wetchbantoeng said that an earthquake of 4.3 on the Richter scale hit in Phuket at 4.44pm with epicenter at Thalang district, while another quake, a 5.4-magnitude, west coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra two minutes later.

The quakes that happened just two minutues apart initially caused confusion that the tremor felt in Phuket was from a quake in Indonesia.

Local residents in Phuket ran out in panic out of houses, buildings and department stores when the tremor took place.

Some described the tremor this time was heavier that last week.

-- The Nation 2011-04-16

[george]

EARTHQUAKE

Phuket felt tremors after quake hit Indonesia

April 16, 2012 5:40 pm

Local residents in island province of Phuket ran in panic out of buildings and houses on Monday after a moderate 5.3-magnitude earthquake rocked Indonesia's off west coast of Indonesia's northern Sumatra island.

The quake struck at 4.46pm Bangkok time, according to Thai Meteorlogical Department.

Facebook was flooded with postings from people in Phuket, some of them said they fled from their houses after noticing that their houses shook.

Dr Weerasak Lawtongkum said he was on the first floor of his house when he felt the shaking.

"The shaking last about a minute and then stopped," he said.

People shopping at the Central Department’s Phuket Branch also ran out of the buildings because of the shaking.

Spring News TV quoted a tweetple as saying the tremor this time was heavier than last time. The tweetple who was staying at Movenpick hotel said his room shook like it was beaten.

Traffic congestions in many roads including along the beaches, at Phuket airport and Rachada Road took place following the tremors.

Thai Meteorlogical Deparmtnet reported Monday that seven quakes hit Indonesia on Monday. It did not say whether they were aftershock from the last week’s quake or not.

-- The Nation 2012-04-16

[Nigel1500]

You've raised a good point Xonax. The Richter Scale (ML) is a logarithmic scale. Thus, basically, 10^x where x is the measurement on the Richter Scale eg: 5.0ML. It is well explained on Wiki. It is also hardly used anymore, having been replaced by the Moment Magnitude Scale. MMS or MW is more complex and will give slightly different values, sometimes higher, sometimes lower than Richter. Again, looking it up on Wiki will give a good explanation. It is generally accepted that when an earthquake is reported as being "magnitude 5.4" the report is referring to the Moment Magnitude Scale and the Richter Scale only applys when specifically named, eg: "6.7 on the Richter Scale".

However, the specific magnitude alone does not determine whether a Tsunami will occur. A MMS value will include a number of different compounding measurement, only some of which are likely to generate a Tsunami.

Cheers

N.

If the 5.3 afterquake today is huge, what was the 8.7 quake last week??

According to the Richter Scale a 5.3 quake is 4000 times weaker than a 8.7 quake, so definitely no need for a Tsunami warning.

Edited April 16, 2012 by Nigel1500

[TomTao]

Ive been watching the USGS earthquake map, nothing on there about this quake, but that being said not every quake shows on the earthquake map, I just hope this is not a pre-curser for more quakes and is a one off instead.

[JohanV]

Btw.. ..while talking about magnitudes..

Is there any scale to measure the amount on confused debate, TiT-themed sarcasms and self-proclaimed 'expert statements' a news snippet generates on ThaiVisa ?

Edited April 16, 2012 by JohanV

[woodyleonhard]

There seems to have been two quakes. The Nation actually reports this:

National Disaster Warning Center on Monday said a quake hit Thailand on Monday and the epicenter was in Phuket's Thalang district.

Acting director Burin Wetchbantoeng said that an earthquake of 4.3 on the Richter scale hit in Phuket at 4.44pm with epicenter at Thalang district, while another quake, a 5.4-magnitude, west coast of Indonesia’s Sumatra two minutes later. The quakes that happened just two minutues apart initially caused confusion that the tremor felt in Phuket was from a quake in Indonesia.

Local residents in Phuket ran out in panic out of houses, buildings and department stores when the tremor took place. Some described the tremor this time was heavier that last week.

I don't believe it.

The USGS reports on quakes all over the world, down to Richter 2.5. As of this moment, three and a half hours after the quake hit Sumatra, hey don't have any record of an earthquake in Thailand. http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/map/

In fact, Thailand has never had an earthquake large enough to make it onto the Historic World Earthquakes List maintained by USGS http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/world/historical_country.php.

[TomTom55]

I do not either believe there was an actual earthquake with the epicentre within Thailand. It is far away enough from the fault line where any two tectonic plates meet or where any of them run across the crust. Any tremors would surely have been from the earthquake over in Indonesia?..

[SurfRider]

.

http://earthquake.us.../usc00094q0.php

http://earthquake.us...arthquakes/map/

Earthquake Details

• This event has been reviewed by a seismologist.
  

Magnitude 5.3 Date-Time

• Monday, April 16, 2012 at 09:46:26 UTC
  
• Monday, April 16, 2012 at 03:46:26 PM at epicenter
  
• Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones
  

Location 0.827°N, 92.426°E Depth 14.7 km (9.1 miles) Region OFF THE WEST COAST OF NORTHERN SUMATRA Distances 614 km (381 miles) SSW of Banda Aceh, Sumatra, Indonesia

711 km (441 miles) SW of Lhokseumawe, Sumatra, Indonesia

1063 km (660 miles) WSW of KUALA LUMPUR, Malaysia

1778 km (1104 miles) WNW of JAKARTA, Java, Indonesia Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 16.9 km (10.5 miles); depth +/- 7.4 km (4.6 miles) Parameters NST= 59, Nph= 59, Dmin=575.5 km, Rmss=1.06 sec, Gp= 83°,

M-type=body wave magnitude (Mb), Version=4