PHUKET: Disaster officials are looking to have a tsunami warning buoy reinstalled at its proper location, some 340 kilometres northwest of Phuket, after it was found to have drifted dozens of kilometres from where it was anchored.
The tsunami warning buoy, Station 23461, was found at 3am on Monday (July 31) to be not reporting data, Chaowalit Nitharat, Director of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Region 18 office, based in Phuket, said yesterday (Aug 2).
According to the National Data Buoy Center, operated by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA), the last data transmitted by Station 23461 was received at 8pm Sunday (July 30).
By the buoy’s GPS unit, officials at 1:23am on Tuesday (Aug 1) confirmed that the buoy was located some 44km from its original position. The buoy was now 198km north of the Surin Islands, Mr Chaowalit said.
“The DDPM is preparing to send a team to have the tsunami warning buoy sent back [to its original location] urgently,” he assured.
Mr Chaowalit also assured that the other buoy maintained by the DDPM, Station 23401, located about 965km west of Phuket, was functioning normally.
The NOAA’s National Data Buoy Center confirms that the most recent data transmitted by Station 23401 was received at midnight last night (00:00hrs, Aug 3).
Station 23401 is one of the tsunami warning buoys that form a multinational array of tsunami-warning buoys in the Bay of Bengal called the the Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Indian Ocean Tsunami Warning and Mitigation System (ICG/IOTWMS), which was created after the devastating tsunami of Dec 26, 2004.
Mr Chaowalit assured that the DDPM maintains is schedule of carrying out repairs and maintenance of the two tsunami warning buoys for which the DDPM is responsible every two years, in accordance with NOAA maintenance standards.
The DDPM also interacts with disaster agencies in other countries as part of its mission to monitor sea conditions for any potential tsunamis and issue any tsunami warnings if necessary.
Mr Chaowalit also touted how the data and information from other countries was linked to data networks in Thailand to supplement Thailand’s own tsunami warning system for the purpose of issuing any tsunami warnings, “Including the installation of a tsunami warning system to be ready to use effectively in all risk areas, which can disseminate information and give accurate tsunami warnings through a variety of channels to reach the area quickly so that people can prepare for tsunami evacuation in a timely manner”.
However, according to the National Data Buoy Center operated by the NOAA, Station 23401 is one of only two tsunami warning buoys in the multinational array that is transmitting real-time data.
Thailand has its own issues with keeping both of its tsunami warning buoys operational. Station 23401 was returned to functioning capacity in November last year after more than a year of the buoy being out of action.
Station 23461, currently located north of the Surin islands, stopped relaying data on June 7 last year, with Thai authorities explaining that the problem was with data not synching with NOAA servers.
A mission was launched from Phuket to “repair” both buoys, with Station 23461 resuming transmitting data on Nov 18.
