Ever since strong tides and heavy rainfall Monday damaged homes and businesses in Phang Nga, rumors began to spread a tsunami was coming toward the southern province.
“There might be two tsunamis on the 15-25 of either June or July,” warned the rumor which spread wildly through Line. “Everyone must be careful and stay away from the beach. One will occur from a volcanic explosion in Indonesia, and another from an underwater earthquake in the Andaman Sea. These two tsunamis will be bigger than before. Please forward this message, so we all can stay safe.”
Phang Nga residents are vulnerable to such rumors as thousands of people died there in the 2006 tsunami.
Jessada Denduangboripant, biology professor of Chulalongkorn University, said nobody can predict when a tsunami will occur. We can’t even predict earthquakes and tsunami are much more complicated, she added.
Meanwhile, San Chantarawong, chief of the Phuket provincial disaster prevention center, said while storms occur every year, they don’t cause tsunamis – earthquakes do. Citizens should not panic.
However, the tsunami alarms are reportedly damaged right now, the officials will fix them next week, MThai and Kapook reported.
