Scores die in Indonesian tsunami as warning system stalls
An early warning system that could have prevented some deaths in the tsunami that hit an Indonesian island on Friday is stalled in the testing phase
MAKASSAR, Indonesia (AP) — An early warning system that could have prevented some deaths in the tsunami that hit an Indonesian island on Friday has been stalled in the testing phase for years.
The high-tech system of seafloor sensors and fiber-optic cable has been in the works for about five years. It is supposed to replace a system set up after an earthquake and tsunami killed nearly 250,000 people in the region in 2004.
Delays in getting $100,000 to complete the project means it hasn't moved beyond the prototype phase.
It will come too late for central Sulawesi, where walls of water up to 6 meters (20 feet) high and a magnitude 7.5 earthquake killed at least 832 people in the cities of Palu and Donggala, tragically highlighting the weaknesses of the existing system.