Why Thais avoided tsunami warning
Meteorologists decided against it
'out of courtesy to tourist industry'
Posted: December 30, 2004
1:00 a.m. Eastern
2004 WorldNetDaily.com
Thailand's foremost meteorologists, meeting in a crisis session before the
tsunami hit, decided not to issue a warning "out of courtesy to the tourism
industry," according to a report in the Thai paper The Nation.
Minutes after the earthquake in the Indian Ocean Sunday morning, Thailand's top
meteorological experts met to consider the danger posed to the coast. But the
economic impact on the nation's tourism industry dissuaded them from warning
those most in danger.
According to the report, the experts considered the fact that there had not
been any dangerous floods in 300 years. There was a consensus that the
Indonesian island of Sumatra would be a "cushion" for the southern coast of
Thailand.
The experts also reportedly believed the quake was an 8.1 on the Richter scale,
rather than a 9.0. A similar sized quake hit the same area in 2002 with no
flooding at all, according to the report.
Among the meteorological experts, only four had expertise in earthquakes,
according to The Nation.
"We finally decided not to do anything because the tourist season was in full
swing," a source told the paper. "The hotels were 100 percent booked. What if
we issued a warning, which would have led to an evacuation, and nothing had
happened. What would be the outcome? The tourist industry would be immediately
hurt. Our department would not be able to endure a lawsuit."
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