Bangkok: Thailand will conduct tests of a cellphone disaster alert system, senior officials said on Wednesday, after criticism that no alarm was sent after last month’s deadly Myanmar earthquake caused damage in Bangkok.
Director General of the Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (DDPM) Phasakorn Boonyalak said the Cell Broadcast System (CBS) will undergo a test run next month in localized areas including the sprawling capital, which was badly shaken by the 7.7-magnitude quake in neighboring Myanmar.
The system will use three mobile networks to send warning messages “quickly and with wide coverage, both on natural disaster and security threats,” he told a news conference.
Starting on May 2 with the smallest target area — four city hall buildings — there will be three test runs, with the third and largest drill covering the whole of Bangkok and Chiang Mai provinces on May 13.
Residents’ cellphones will get a pop-up message on their screens in Thai and English, accompanied by a siren, Phasakorn said.
The message will read: “This is a test message from Department of Disaster Prevention and Mitigation, no action required.”
Phasakorn said it was CBS’s first public test run and that tourists on roaming networks would also receive the alert.
The DDPM aimed to get alerts out within 10 minutes of an earthquake, he said.
The March 28 quake killed more than 3,700 people in Myanmar and at least 53 in a tower block under construction in Bangkok that collapsed dramatically.
While Thailand rarely experiences such strong tremors, Bangkok often experiences heavy flooding in the rainy season.
Thailand to test disaster alerts after quake criticism
https://arab.news/m6q74
Thailand to test disaster alerts after quake criticism
- The DDPM aimed to get alerts out within 10 minutes of an earthquake.
- The system will use three mobile networks to send warning messages
Indonesia reaffirms Yemen’s territorial integrity, backs stability efforts amid tensions
- Statement comes after Saudi Arabia bombed a UAE weapons shipment at Yemeni port city
- Jakarta last week said it ‘appreciates’ Riyadh ‘working together’ with Yemen to restore stability
JAKARTA: Indonesia has called for respect for Yemen’s territorial integrity and commended efforts to maintain stability in the region, a day after Saudi Arabia bombed a weapons shipment from the UAE at a Yemeni port city that Riyadh said was intended for separatist forces.
Saudi Arabia carried out a “limited airstrike” at Yemen’s port city of Al-Mukalla in the southern province of Hadramout on Tuesday, following the arrival of an Emirati shipment that came amid heightened tensions linked to advances by the UAE-backed Southern Transitional Council in the war-torn country.
In a statement issued late on Wednesday, the Indonesian Ministry of Foreign Affairs said it “appreciates further efforts by concerned parties to maintain stability and security,” particularly in the provinces of Hadramout and Al-Mahara.
“Indonesia reaffirms the importance of peaceful settlement through an inclusive and comprehensive political dialogue under the coordination of the United Nations and respecting Yemen’s legitimate government and territorial integrity,” Indonesia’s foreign affairs ministry said.
The latest statement comes after Jakarta said last week that it “appreciates the efforts of the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, as well as other relevant countries, working together with Yemeni stakeholders to de-escalate tensions and restore stability.”
Saudi Arabia leads the Coalition to Restore Legitimacy in Yemen, which includes the UAE and was established in 2015 to combat the Houthi rebels, who control most of northern Yemen.
Riyadh has been calling on the STC, which initially supported Yemen’s internationally recognized government against the Houthi rebels, to withdraw after it launched an offensive against the Saudi-backed government troops last month, seeking an independent state in the south.
Indonesia has also urged for “all parties to exercise restraint and avoid unilateral action that could impact security conditions,” and has previously said that the rising tensions in Yemen could “further deteriorate the security situation and exacerbate the suffering” of the Yemeni people.
Indonesia, the world’s biggest Muslim-majority country, maintains close ties with both Saudi Arabia and the UAE, which are its main trade and investment partners in the Middle East.
