(Bangkok, Jan 20) A one-kilometre crack has opened in the ocean floor north of Phuket, Thailand, sparking fears that the dormant Ranong fault has been revived following the Dec 26 undersea earthquake, reports Xinhua.
At Tambon Ratchagrud in Ranong district, north of Phuket, villagers have found a one-km crack on the ocean floor from which a steady stream of air bubbles are surfacing 500 metres offshore in Laem Son Bay.
The area is near the passive Ranong fault that has been inactive for years, said district chief Chanat Kaewbamrung.
"It is possible that the tsunami has revived the dormant Ranong fault. When a fault becomes active, it releases bubbles," said Lerdsin Raksasakulwong, director of the mineral resources department's geology office.
The island of Phuket may also have moved southwest by 15 cm as a result of the tsunami, according to a report based on a mathematical computer model.
Every year 0.5 mm changes in land and island positions occur naturally. "But the earthquake deformed all the land near the Andaman Sea, not only Phuket," survey engineer Itthi Trisirisatayawong was quoted as saying in the Bangkok Post.(IANS) - Express Newsline
