Tsunami alert on track

Tsunami alert on track

The violent earthquake off the coast of the Indonesian island
of Sumatra late on Monday night -- and the panic it sparked in
Thailand and other countries around the Indian Ocean rim -- was a
grim reminder that tsunamis, one of the world's most devastating
natural disasters, could strike at any time.

Although the earthquake off Indonesia's west coast showed that
not every forceful instance of seismic activity in the sea
produces a tsunami, the successful early warning and subsequent
evacuation were a good exercise, allowing us to gauge the
preparedness to respond to disasters.

The government must take a balanced approach to the country's
natural disaster preparedness, taking into consideration all
risks based on the probability of their happening -- not on the
amount of public fear that a particular disaster might happen.

Above all, the costly lessons learned on Dec. 26 should
convince the government that managing our country's preparedness
to deal with disasters should be left to professionals who are
free to exercise their professional judgement without fear or
favor, or intervention from politicians.

It is always far better to err on the side of caution.
-- The Nation, Bangkok