This afternoon the reports started coming in that there was massive earthquake off Banda Aceh Indonesia in roughly the same place as the devastating tsunami 2004 had taken place.
The good news was that a lot worked to make this a good day…
People were scared, that was a reality and they moved to high ground all up and down the west coast of Thailand and other areas touched by the Indian Ocean.
The good news was the earthquake had happened on a horizontal level; that is where the ground moved horizontally and does not displace much water. The deadly displacement quakes are what cause a massive tsunami. This was not one.
Okay, so why was this good?
First off it was the fact that all the earthquakes and after-shocks caused little water displacement and that meant not much of a tsunami, in short and thankfully, nothing that was close to the 2004 devastation happened today.
Second: The systems that were put into place have actually had a huge stress test – and they worked. Mass panic did not take place, people evacuated properly and all was good. This can now save even more lives if and when the next real tsunami hits.
All the emergency personnel have been through this very real test and will be able to hone their skills and have even better plans if they ever need to pout them to use.
People were scared, and I am sure that a lot of the survivors from the devastating 2004 tsunami are going to be having horrible flashbacks now the fake pictures and videos have started, but all is well on this side of the world.
In a sense this was all a good thing.
Since we are Koh Chang based we want to add this. There is very little chance of Koh Chang ever being able to have a tsunami as we are on the east side of Thailand and as such, it is just impossible to happen here.
