Indonesia Launch Tsunami Early Warning System

I still remember it well, the worst nightmare when the earth shaked and the tsunami attacked so many beaches in Indonesia. And today I just read a very scary news about the beach in my country.

Some 57 percent of Indonesia's coastline, or 46,170 km, of the total length of 81,000 km, are prone to a tsunami attack.

The data came from the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency during the inaguration of a Tsunami Early Warning System (TEWS) at the BMG office here Tuesday.

After an earthquake followed by a tsunami in Aceh on December 26, 2004, the need for an early warning system had become increasingly urgent.

A tsunami early warning system developed and funded by five donor countries began operations Tuesday in Indonesia, nearly four years after the Asian tsunami of December 2004, which claimed 230,000 lives.

The system makes use of sensors placed on the seabed that relay details of changes in water pressure to buoys on the surface. The information is then transmitted via satellite to a tsunami early warning centre in Indonesia.

By the end of 2008, the observation network would operate 116 broadband seismographs, 90 tide gauges and two buoys.

Indonesia is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries.

It sits atop the Pacific Ocean's Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.

The 2004 quake and tsunami, which struck off Aceh, killed more than 170,000 people in that province alone.

Other tsunami early warning systems have been installed in other countries hit by the 2004 tsunami, including Thailand and India.

PS. I don't put any pics here, cos all the pics I could find are too horrible and it brings back such a horrible memory to me.