http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Rawai-Montessori-School-RPIS/129123817121432
Dec10, 2012
Before the tsunami in 2004 nobody was aware of the possibility of such an event on the island of Phuket. Indeed it was considered a paradise with no major climatic or geophysical dangers. Of course now we know differently. Since the event ...occurred we have had tsunami drills on a very regular basis and will continue into the future. I’m afraid no one can guarantee that events of any kind will not occur in the future, not only tsunamis and I believe that one should avoid believing that a disaster is about to occur around every corner. Plan for the best but prepare for the worst is the best policy. Meanwhile we should enjoy the beauty that Phukets coast line has to offer. As well as being on the shoreline the office area of the school is well above the height reached by the last tsunami and is where our meeting point is located in the event of a tsunami warning.For further evidence of our concern I would invite you to read my article I wrote in March 2011. ( below)
Every time we hear news of another disaster, natural or otherwise, amongst many emotions, it is natural for us consider our own safety and especially that of our family. In the aftermath of the very sad events in Japan. Khun Shane has asked me to write an article about Tsunamis and the dangers they present to our school, and what our plans are in response to another event occurring in Phuket.
Before Continuing it may be valuable to introduce myself. My name is John Mood and I’m sure you’ve seen me in the school. Since I was a child I have always been interested in our world: the only subject I liked at school was Geography, always looking at atlases and books about different countries. To cut a long story short I got a degree from London University in geography and geology, and have spent my life mainly teaching in various parts of the world and arrived in Phuket on my small sailing boat just before the last tsunami in which my boat was almost destroyed. I mention this as it is relevant to the discussion, as I am fully aware of the power of nature.
Nobody has been able to predict when Tsunamis are going to happen and to be honest the science of geology is in many cases little more than opinion or theories, as is the case with the theory of evolution, or what happened to the dinosaurs. There are somethings however, of which we can be pretty sure. Tsunamis can arise from a number of situations. These can be roughly devided into two categories. The first and the cause of the most dramatic tsunamis are due to impact, such as landslides, meteorites and volcanoes. The highest tsunami in recorded history occurred in Alaska in the 1950’s when a landslide collapsed into a small inlet and caused a 500 metre wave. In geological history it is believed bigger events happened as a result of large meteorites crashing into the sea. Also Krakatoa, a volcano, caused a historically famous tsunami in the 1890”s. These are very rare events and unlikely to happen around the vicinity of Phuket, but who knows?
The second category relates to movement of tectonic plates. Tsunamis are caused by pressures built up over hundreds of years as a result of interaction between them and the sudden release of this pressure in the form of an earthquake. Japan is known to be one of the most earthquake prone areas on Earth being located on the corner of four such tectonic plates. It has had an average of one 8.5 on the Richter scale every 5 years since records began. Interestingly it has never had anything larger until the last tsunami. Once that particular stress has been released it takes many decades for the stress to rebuild and cause another quake. An example of this is the famous San Francisco Quake. After nearly 100 years people now say it is due for another quake.
The Situation in the case of the recent Phuket tsunami is similar to the California quake in that the pressure on that fault line has been released and will probably not rebuild for many decades. The history of Phuket shows an extremely low incidence of tsunamis. This means that the possibility of another tsunamis on Phuket is not high.
Not all earthquakes cause tsunamis and for there to be a large, dangerous wave, then certain conditions are necessary and different types coastlines are affected differently.
If we were to look at what happened in the last tsunami to hit Phuket, then we will see that the highest waves were on shores with extended shallow beaches which funneled the wave in a concentrated fashion, such as Patong and Kao Sok. They recorded waves as much as 15 metres high, I believe. The wave penetrated well inland, causing massive loss of life and damage.
Conditions are different in the Chalong area and the waves recorded were much lower: I believe they did not exceed 3 metres. A major factor in this, without going into much boring detail, are the islands you see when looking out to sea from the school grounds. They had the effect of reducing the impact. I firmly believe they would do the same in any further incidence.
I am not for one minute saying that there is no danger to the school and that the school should not take precautions or not have an evacuation plan. The truth is that anyone who chooses to live by the sea and enjoy its benefits, takes an element of risk. I am merely trying to put that risk into perspective based on my understanding and experience. I must also add that in recent years, if you look up the records, there does seem to have been an increase in the frequency of earthquakes and other natural disasters and as nobody really knows what is happening within the earth, it is only prudent to be safer rather than be sorry.
Tsunamis precautions.
Since the last tsunami Thailand and other countries have cooperated in building a Tsunami warning system which is designed to give 30 minutes warning from the particular fault line known to cause earthquakes. All schools are on the list to be warned. Khun Shane has also informed me that she has a friend working in the systems Bangkok office who has Khun Shane’s personal number. This should give us time to react.
In the case of the last tsunamis the wave knocked down the sea wall, but did not travel further than the canteen area. We feel that the office of the school is high enough too be safe, and is one of the highest areas in the locality, and this will be our assembly point. In comparison to the experience in the last tsunami if the wave were to be sufficiently large to reach the office then all roads from the school along the coastline would also be destroyed, along with the traffic they carry, as would most residential areas on the island. The road to Nai Harn, however, would take us further from the sea and to slightly higher ground. To try to get to very high ground such as the Big Buddha would mean travelling along low lying land and would therefore be dangerous especially as the last Tsunami proved that the road was blocked by traffic jams, with people trying to get to safety and to hospital. We also have the phone numbers of all parents to maintain contact.
I hope you find this article of interest and I welcome any discussion on any issues that need further clarification
Mar 21, 2011
Rawai Progressive International School
Phuket, Thailand
