Phuket: The country's tsunami early warning system remains up and running despite a fault being detected in one of the tsunami buoys deployed in the Andaman Sea last week, the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation said on Monday.
Buoy No.23461, located 340 kilometres off the coast of Phuket, stopped sending signals on Wednesday last week, according to the Foundation of National Disaster Warning Council.
The foundation said the fault might render Thailand vulnerable should an earthquake generate a tsunami in the area.
The Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation took to Facebook on Monday to explain that the buoy stopped sending signals because it was out of position.
In the post, the department assured the fault won't have an impact on the country's tsunami early warning system. It said the system receives data from multiple buoys in the area, as well as other agencies, including the Royal Thai Navy's Hydrographic Department.
"Our tsunami buoys also share information with other agencies both at home and abroad," the department wrote.
The information is used to create a tsunami model, which authorities hope will boost the ability of officials to generate early warnings for six provinces along the Andaman coast, namely Satun, Trang, Krabi, Phangnga, Ranong and Phuket when an earthquake with a tsunami potential strikes.
The department also posted that its officials, with the support of naval personnel, have successfully pulled the buoy from the sea for repairs, and the department has now bought a replacement from the US, which will be delivered to Thailand in March.
However, the new tsunami buoy will not be immediately installed, as it is necessary to avoid adverse weather and sea conditions during the monsoon season across the Andaman Sea, which occurs between July and October. Installation must be carried out by foreign experts, according to the department.