Earthquakes in Thailand

People living in Phuket are obviously getting a bit jittery, what with all the seismic activity recently. It all started with an earthquake off the coast of Sumatra on 11th April. I was in Hat Yai at the time and I could feel the hotel building move. As it turned out, many people in Southern Thailand, and even in Bangkok, felt this tremor. Immediately, people along the West coast started to panic. And for good reason as many of them remembered the devastating Tsunami in 2004. Fortunately nothing happened. But then, another quake hit. This time it was centered around Talang District in Phuket itself. The first 4.3 quake struck Phuket at 4.44pm on Monday 16th April, followed two minutes later by the 5.7 quake. Since then, there has been many minor aftershocks which could continue for several more weeks.

According to The Nation, there are 13 active faultlines in 22 provinces in Thailand, including Mae Chan in Chiang Rai and Chiang Mai; Mae Hong Son; Meoi in Tak and Kamphaeng Phet; Mae Tha in Chiang Mai, Lamphun and Chiang Rai; Thoen in Lampang and Phrae; Phayao in Phayao, Chiang Rai and Lampang; Pua in Nan; Uttaradit; and Three Pagodas in Kanchanaburi. The largest earthquake ever in Thailand was magnitude 5.9 in Kanchanaburi province in 1983.

If you can read Thai, the official Thai government website for earthquake monitoring is at www.seismology.tmd.go.th. They also have a twitter account @seismo_twitt. If you cannot read Thai, then you can follow me on @RichardBarrow as I am translating any breaking news there as and when it happens.