Saturday, March 11 2006 16:22 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Bangkok: Thailand today(Mar 11,2006) urged people living along the Andaman Sea coast to be on alert for any changes in the colour of the sea or abnormal waves following dozens of earthquakes in the region in recent days.

The temblors were not strong enough to trigger a tsunami, but the National Disaster Warning Center issued an announcement for 'related officials to be prepared,' said center assistant director Vaiyapot Warakanok.

There have been 31 earthquakes east of India's Andaman Islands with magnitudes between 4 and 5.3 since Thursday, said an official at the center. The quakes were centered 400 kms to 600 kms west of Thailand's southern province of Ranong.

Smith Thammasaroj, assistant minister of the Prime Minister's office who oversees the warning center, said fishermen and others living on the Andaman Sea coast should inform officials immediately if they 'notice the sea water changing colour, bubbles on the surface of the sea or (abnormal) waves.'

A magnitude-9.1 earthquake in December 2004 off the coast of Indonesia's Sumatra Island triggered a tsunami that killed or left missing more than 216,000 people in a dozen countries.