An earthquake registering 4.0 on the Richter scale struck Ranong province, just north of Phuket, at about 1pm today, shaking houses along the coast and scattering villagers in fear. Paiboon Aiamsuwan, director of the Thai Meteorological Department (TMD) monitoring station in Ranong, confirmed that the epicenter of the earthquake was located under the beachfront area of Ngao in Ranong’s Muang District, about 110km north of Phuket Town. “The quake was felt all over Muang District, but the strongest tremors were reported at the beachfront area near the mountains in Ngao subdistrict,” Mr Paiboon said. There have been no aftershocks and I have not received any reports of damaged buildings,” said Mr Paiboon. (Source: Phuket News)