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