Thailand held the Indian Ocean region's first full tsunami evacuation drill at badly hit Phuket island yesterday, confident the system will comfort tourists and residents spooked by the disaster four months ago.
Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra pressed a ceremonial button that made high-pitched alarms wail along Phuket's famed Patong beachfront, triggering a simulated evacuation to higher ground of 2,000 locals and tourists.
Yesterday's drill was based on a make-believe scenario of a 9.0-magnitude quake near the Nicobar islands triggering a 10m high tsunami that would reach the Thai coast within 30 minutes.
Admitting coastal communities had previously been unprepared for the tsunami disaster, the Thai leader said similar drills should be held every six months. Six provinces along southern Thailand's Andaman coast including Phuket were hammered by the giant waves, which were caused by a 9.3-magnitude earthquake off northeastern Indonesia. About 5,400 people died in Thailand, half of them believed to be foreign holidaymakers, and the country has struggled to revive its massive tourism industry since then. It has vowed to forge ahead with a tsunami warning system on its own even as several other Indian Ocean nations hit by the catastrophe mull a broader regional system.
Alarm towers similar to those on Patong will also be set up in the other five provinces in coming months. Asian and African leaders agreed last week to establish a tsunami warning network to prevent a repeat of December's carnage, but debate has swirled over the system's format.
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