Phuket, Thailand

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Phuket, Thailand the Indonesia Tsunami of 2004

• Natural Disaster Case Study
• ENVI 485
• Justin Gamble

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Introduction - Phuket

• Island off west coast of Thailand
• Major tourist attraction beaches/resorts
• 870 km from Bangkok
• 6th most populated province in Thailand

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Introduction Phuket cont.

• Geography 30 land area low-lying coastal plains
• Economy tourism, agriculture, aquaculture
• Population 1.6m prior to tsunami

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Phuket Geologic Setting

• Located 500km NE of tsunami source Sunda Trench
  subduction zone
• Surrounded by shallow waters of Malacca Straits
  southeast Andaman Sea
• Most tourist beaches face southwest
• direct path of tsunami propagation

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The Sumatran Earthquake

• Subducting Indian Plate under Burma Microplate
• Sunday, Dec 26th 2004
• Megathrust earthquake occurs _at_ 058 UTC 9.3
  magnitude
• 1600km of faultline ruptures northward from Aceh,
  thrusts about 15m upward

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The Sumatran Earthquake

• 2 rupture phases over several minutes
• First rupture caused largest waves, fault
  movement at 6300mph
• Initial fracture occurred 30km deep _at_ subduction
  zone, 50km off Sumatra coast

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Incident Timeline

• 107 UTC- NOAA detects earthquake, issues
  bulletin no tsunami threat
• First notification of tsunami 41 min after 9m
  wave hits Banda Aceh
• 233 UTC- first wave hits Phuket, 3-5m wave
  height in most areas

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Disaster Impacts

• Crowded beaches _at_ time of first wave high tide
  greater flooding
• 250 dead or missing, exact unknown
• Hundreds of homes beach resorts destroyed
• Beachgoers visual confirmation escape
• Townspeople less chance of survival

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Preparedness

• No local warning system in place for Phuket
• Limited local knowledge tourists
• NOAA Pacific Tsunami Warning Center ineffective?
  
• No advanced earthquake prediction not all
  underwater quakes cause tsunamis

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Disaster Response

• Initial response rapid mobilization of Thai
  Ministry of Public Health (MOPH)
• Deployed personnel for casualty assessment, ID
  dead, local health-care
• Thai-U.S. collaboration dispensed relief
  workers to Phuket other provinces
• WHO rapid assessment tool for data on
  infrastructure damage

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Effectiveness of Response

• Dec 26th-Jan 11th efficient efforts by MOPH in
  establishing functioning medical system
• Weeks after initial response monitoring for
  infectious disease, concern for outbreaks
• Long term (post Feb 2005) ID of missing persons,
  reconstruction phases

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Reconstruction

• Various foreign aid NGO interaction
• Habitat for Humanity local housing projects
  over past 2 years
• Many private investors restoring beach hotels
  resorts
• USAID projects humanitarian relief education

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Lessons Learned

• Need for effective communication system across
  Thailand coast
• -new methods of severity prediction
• Many locals tourists unaware of signs of
  incoming tsunami
• Dense tourist-based coastal infrastructure
  catastrophic damages/casualties

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Recommendations

• Continuing public education programs
• Design quick evacuation routes
• Placement of more coastal lookouts
• International cooperation in warning systems