Experts:Tremors In Phuket Are No Worries

BANGKOK, April 18 (TNA) - Experts say that a series of earthquakes in Thailand's southern Andaman Phuket province lately are not a concern because a fault line which has triggered the tremors is small and can jolt the renowned Thai resort island with magnitudes of only 2-4. Thanawat Jarupongsakul, chief of the Unit for Disaster and Land Information Studies at Bangkok-based Chulalongkorn University, told journalists Wednesday that the series of tremors in Phuket had resulted from the Khlong Marui fault line with their epicenters located on the Koh Yao of adjacent Phang-nga province, instead of Phuket. Thanawat insisted that the tremors in Phuket appear not to be a concern, as the fault line is small, acknowledging that the tremors were gradually releasing energy to prevent energy accumulation which could, otherwise, raise a great concern. Thanawat said what he is actually worried is the Sumatran fault in Indonesia, which can affect the Nicobar and Baron Islands in the Indian Ocean and is only 300 kilometers far from Thailand's southern Andaman Ranong province, cautioning that there could be any strong earthquake along the Sumatran fault following April 11's quakes, based on previous incidents including a powerful earthquake with tsunami in Japan recently. Lertsin Raksasakulwong, director of Thailand's Bureau of Environmental Geology and Geohazards, also warned that tremors with magnitudes of up to 3.3 could happen in Phuket over the next week and their power would then gradually drop. Meanwhile, noticeable tremors were continuing at intervals in Phuket, including the one which was felt in the Bang Kham Village of the Si Sunthon locality in Thalang district early Wednesday morning. Villagers said, however, that the tremor was not as powerful as previous ones but they were afraid that their houses could crack if the situation continued. The Meteorological Department reported that the magnitude of the tremor was only 2.6 on the Richter scale and its epicenter was close to those of previous ones in the same area. (TNA)