Old Project Avalon Forum (ARCHIVE) - Indonesia issues tsunami warning after strong earthquake nov16th

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle5167404.ece
From Times OnlineNovember 16, 2008
23 mins ago.
Indonesia issued a tsunami warning today after a strong earthquake struck in the area of northern Sulawesi.

The quake had a magnitude of 7.7 and struck in the Gorontalo area of Sulawesi island at a shallow depth of 10 km (6.2 miles).

Indonesia has launched its early warning system only last week in order to prevent a repeat of the tsunami disaster of 2004 when waves caused by an undersea earthquake killed a quarter of a million people across Asia.

The $130 million (£84 million) Indonesian Tsunami Early Warning System, built with German technology and funded by five foreign governments, is designed to broadcast tsunami warnings within minutes of such an earthquake, using seabed sensors, land-based seismometers and satellite positioning equipment.

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However, only two of the ten necessary buoys are in place and 22 will be needed to make the most of the system.

About 170,000 of the victims on Boxing Day 2004 were in Indonesia’s Aceh province, parts of which were inundated within 15 minutes of the earthquake. Its victims received no warning.

Today's alert came after an initial report from the US Geological Survey.

http://news.sky.com/skynews/Home/Wor...00811315152617
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp...HENj2xJRBZNSpg
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/...8nthAD94G61500
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asi...ic/7732440.stm
http://newsimg.bbc.co.uk/media/image...nesiaquake.gif
"This earthquake has the potential to generate a destructive regional tsunami along coasts located within 1,000km of the earthquake epicenter."

Authorities in the region were warned to "take immediate action to evacuate coastal areas".

A 2004 tsunami killed nearly a quarter of a million people, most of them in Indonesia's Aceh region.

That disaster led to pressure for better tidal warning systems in the region and Indonesia launched a new hi-tech system on Tuesday aimed at detecting tidal waves and providing faster alerts.

BBC news.