Geography and Natural Disasters

The island province of Phuket is mostly granite and sedimentary rock. The topography is nearly 70% mountain ranges, with the highest point being nearly 1700 feet above sea level. The west coast of the island is predominantly mountainous and composed of granite deposits. Koh Racha Yai and Koh Hee (Coral Island) are among these islands. Then there are the limestone islands such as the Phi Phi islands and Phang Nga Bay to the south and northeast.

Phi Phi Island off the coast of Phuket. The limestone ridges can be worn away by the water near its bases. These islands often have what look like floating rock formations, narrow at the bottom and wider at the top.

pmyaasia.com, welovekohlipe.com

In 2004, Phuket experienced one of the only natural disasters to occur in the area. The earthquake was experienced in Sumatra, measuring a 9.1 on the Richter Scale. The quake itself was not felt in Phuket and gave no warning that Thailand, Sri Lanka and surrounding areas were in danger. Phuket is geographically stable in that there is only a minor fault line that does run under the main island Phuket. In April 2012 Phuket experienced the very unusual event of an earthquake of its own. It was only 4.4 on the Richter scale. No serious damage was done and this is the only earthquake to directly hit Phuket in modern history.

Patong Beach was struck by the tsunami in 2004. An estimated 230,000 were killed in the earthquake and tsunami that followed.
http://www.phuket-town.com/tsunami.html
http://www.knowphuket.com/geography.htm
http://gothailand.about.com/od/planatrip/a/tsunami.htm
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Phuket_Province