| Kjell Arvidsson writes:
I was asked by IH&RA to serve as the hospitality industry expert on the Shelter Assessment exercise undertaken with the Swedish Rescue Services Agency as part of an EU-funded post-Tsunami relief project. The exercise was carried out in September in three coastal tourism destinations affected by the 2004 Tsunami: Kanniyakumari, at the Southern tip of India, and Patong and Phi Phi Island in Southern Thailand.
On the day of my arrival in Kanniyakumari, through our subscription to Control Risk Group's CR24 alert service, the Rezidor Hotel Group was alerted that a tsunami watch had come into effect. As a result I learnt on opening my computer that "Sea level readings indicated that a Tsunami was generated and might already have been destructive along some coasts. Based on these data, the threat continued for all coastal areas of the Indian Ocean" I immediately contacted my wife, Paul Moxness our Head of Corporate Security - and of course my colleague from the Swedish Rescue Services Agency working with me on the Shelter Assessment exercise.
This is how we have reported the incident:
"On the 12th of September at 11:10 (UTC) (16:40 Indian time) a major earthquake occurred 100 km south-west of Sumatra, Indonesia. The quake measured a magnitude of 8.4 on the Richter scale. The major quake was followed by over 60 aftershocks including one quake of a magnitude 7.1 and one 7.8 on September 13th. The huge force of water displaced was pushed out to sea rather than towards land. 'It was very fortunate that the plate mechanism that triggered the earthquake caused the tsunami to go to the south-west, out in the Indian Ocean and then the Southern Ocean', Seismologist Mike Turnbull of the Central Queensland University said. He explained that the quake created the opposite effect of the massive tsunami in 2004 which caused an Indian Ocean-wide tsunami, killing more than 230.000 people. Within minutes of the temblors off Indonesia’s western coast, officials at the Indian Ocean Tsunami and Mitigation System sent out a warning by SMS, e-mail and fax to coastal communities in the path of potential waves, including coastal communities on the Indian east coast."
In India, the Department of Housing announced a tsunami warning to the District collector who informed the Assistant Director of the district and finally the Executive officer of Kanniyakumari. Locally, the Executive officer of Kanniyakumari informed the priest. At approximately 17:30 the local priest announced the tsunami warning and the residents in areas closest to the water were told to bring valuables and leave their homes for land at higher altitude. A few minutes past 18:00, the church bells rang twice to announce that something serious had happened or was wrong (one ring announces prayer). At the church the tsunami warning was given.
As it turned out, the earthquake did not generate a destructive tsunami and the warning was withdrawn from Kanniyakumari - but it certainly had us on our toes and made the whole shelter assessment exercise a very intense experience!
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