Tsunami scare after strong quake hit Indonesia

Tsunami panic spread across much of Thailand after a massive earthquake struck off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra yesterday afternoon at a location eerily close to the epicentre of the huge quake that led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of people in 2004.
A 10-centimetre-high tsunami wave reached Koh Miang in Phang Nga province, but there were no reports of casualties.
An 8.2-magnitude aftershock later occurred off the Sumatran coast in the evening, raising concern that such a powerful quake could trigger a large tsunami. The Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre cancelled its “tsunami watch” for both the initial quake and the aftershock.
The situation began to return to normal when the director of the National Disaster Warning Centre held a press conference to lift the tsunami warning shortly after 7pm.
As soon as the first quake, of 8.6 magnitude, hit in the afternoon, authorities issued tsunami alerts and locals in the coastal areas of Krabi, Ranong, Phang Nga, Phuket, Trang and Satun provinces ran to safety.
“We want them move to high ground before 5.50pm for safety reasons,” said Information and Communications Technology Minister Anudith Nakornthap. “We are worried about a tsunami.”
Still haunted by the devastating tsunami of December 26, 2004, residents in these southern provinces along the Andaman coast quickly responded to alerts and left beach and other coastal areas.
The scenes were somewhat chaotic as terrified people poured out on to the streets, and traffic jams built up in towns as people headed for higher ground.
Mobile-phone users, meanwhile, were hit by network failures, as the number of calls made overwhelmed the system.
“I managed to call staff at my restaurant on Phi Phi Island and they told me they had already evacuated to the top of a hill,” said Arunpong Srisawas.
Phi Phi Island, in Krabi province, is a tropical paradise. However, it was the scene of devastation and death when the giant waves crashed down eight years ago.
Yesterday’s first quake was felt far and wide, with Bangkok residents experiencing the ground shaking under their feet.
The earthquake was felt in many of the capital’s high-rise buildings, with some office workers stampeding down to the ground floor after noticing curtains and lamps shaking. “I rushed out of Interchange Tower because the floor was shaking so much that I felt dizzy,” said a Bangkok woman.
German experts who helped install the tsunami-warning system off Indonesia said the quake was horizontal, rather than vertical, making a big tsunami less likely.
“There wasn’t much vertical movement,” said Rainer Kind of the German Geo-Research Centre.
Watcharin Thongsakun, deputy governor of Satun province, added: “We are closely monitoring the situation and are on alert.”
The international airport in Phuket was temporarily closed. It was expected to resume operations from 8am today.
In Bangkok, a parliamentary session on constitutional amendments ended as MPs from the South headed back to their region, preparing to help people in the event that disaster really did strike.
Public Health Minister Witthaya Buranasiri instructed the heads of provincial public health offices in the six Andaman provinces to set up a war room to ensure efficient crisis management should a tsunami hit the area.
At 7pm, Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra convened a meeting with relevant authorities. The Andaman provinces’ tsunami warning was lifted at about the same time.