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Indonesia tsunami warning buoys failed when quake hit – officials Indonesia tsunami warning buoys failed when quake hit – officials
(about 1 hour later)
All 22 tsunami warning buoys installed near vulnerable islands failed to work when a powerful earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra on Wednesday, Indonesian officials have said.All 22 tsunami warning buoys installed near vulnerable islands failed to work when a powerful earthquake struck off the coast of Sumatra on Wednesday, Indonesian officials have said.
The spokesman of the national disaster mitigation agency, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said the buoys were inoperable because of vandalism or a lack of funds for operation and maintenance.The spokesman of the national disaster mitigation agency, Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, said the buoys were inoperable because of vandalism or a lack of funds for operation and maintenance.
“That made it difficult to determine whether or not the earthquake triggered a tsunami,” Sutopo said on Thursday.“That made it difficult to determine whether or not the earthquake triggered a tsunami,” Sutopo said on Thursday.
A magnitude-7.8 earthquake hit parts of Sumatra and small islands in western Indonesia on Wednesday evening, sending thousands of islanders rushing to high ground but causing no major damage or deaths.A magnitude-7.8 earthquake hit parts of Sumatra and small islands in western Indonesia on Wednesday evening, sending thousands of islanders rushing to high ground but causing no major damage or deaths.
Indonesia’s meteorology and geophysics agency issued a tsunami warning, but lifted it more than two hours later after discovering that a small tsunami had reached the coasts of Cocos island and the Indonesian city of Padang in west Sumatra. Indonesia’s meteorology and geophysics agency issued a tsunami warning, but lifted it more than two hours later after discovering that a small tsunami had reached the coasts of the Cocos Islands and the Indonesian city of Padang in west Sumatra.
German and Indonesian scientists began installing warning buoys off the island of Sumatra a year after a magnitude-9.1 quake in 2004 triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.German and Indonesian scientists began installing warning buoys off the island of Sumatra a year after a magnitude-9.1 quake in 2004 triggered a tsunami that killed 230,000 people in a dozen countries.
The system involves sensors on the ocean floor and giant buoys on the surface of the sea that transmit information about earthquake activity via satellite to observation stations on the coast within 10 minutes of tsunami-strength earthquakes.The system involves sensors on the ocean floor and giant buoys on the surface of the sea that transmit information about earthquake activity via satellite to observation stations on the coast within 10 minutes of tsunami-strength earthquakes.
Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval because of its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines circling the Pacific Basin.Indonesia, the world’s largest archipelago, is prone to seismic upheaval because of its location on the Pacific Ring of Fire, an arc of volcanoes and fault lines circling the Pacific Basin.