Flashermac Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Thailand fires chief meteorologist Inquiry launched into why no tsunami warning was issued Tuesday, January 4, 2005 BANGKOK, Thailand (Reuters) -- Thailand has fired its chief meteorologist and opened an investigation into why his department failed to issue a tsunami warning which might have saved thousands of lives, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra announced. "When a quake measured at 8.9-9.0 on the Richter scale struck in Sumatra, it was widely known tsunami can happen. But why weren't there any alerts? I really want to know the truth," Thaksin told reporters Tuesday. A day after deadly waves devastated the country's Andaman Sea coast, Meteorological Department chief Suparerk Tansriratanawong had told reporters Thailand had not been hit by a tsunami in more than 300 years and had no reason to expect one. But the English-language Nation newspaper quoted an unnamed member of the department last week as saying a tsunami alert was not issued for fear of hurting the important tourist industry at the peak season if it turned out to be false. During the investigation, to be led by Information & Communications Technology Minister Surapong Suebwonglee, Suparerk will help set up a national early warning system for all natural disasters, a government spokesman said. No Asian country issued a warning of the Dec. 26 tsunami, triggered by a magnitude 9.0 earthquake off Indonesia, which killed nearly 150,000 people as it crashed ashore around the Indian Ocean. Thai expert says he tried to warn the government a deadly tsunami might be sweeping towards tourist-packed beaches, but couldn't find anyone to take his calls. Samith Dhammasaroj said Monday he was sure a tsunami was coming as soon as he heard about the massive December 26 earthquake off Indonesia's Sumatra island that measured magnitude 9.0 -- the world's biggest in 40 years. "I tried to call the director-general of the meteorological office, but his phone was always busy," Samith said as he described his desperate attempts to generate an alert which might have saved thousands of lives. "I tried to phone the office, but it was a Sunday and no-one was there," said the former chief of the meteorological department now charged with setting up an early warning disaster system for Thailand. "I knew that one day we would have this type of tsunami. I warned that there would be a big disaster," he told reporters. "Everyone laughed at me and said I was a bad guy who wanted to ruin the tourist industry," he added. The tsunami took just 75 minutes to hit the beaches and islands of Thailand's Andaman Sea coast, 600 km (375 miles) from the earthquake's epicenter. Hotels on Thailand's Andaman Sea coast were packed when the tsunami hit, killing at least 5,187 people, including more than 2,400 foreign tourists, many from Scandinavia, drawn to its sand, warm seas and coral reefs to escape the long northern winter. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nervous_Dog Posted January 12, 2005 Report Share Posted January 12, 2005 Flash You have added your own misleading information at the top of the post, which is contradicted by the post it self! He wasn;t fired. He was transfered and is still plaing a role in the while issue. This is a old report, posted elsewhere in the site. DOG Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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