Indonesian Tsunami Death Toll Climbs

This story got lost in all the coverage about the violence in the Middle East, but Indonesia was hit by a very strong 7.7 earthquake followed by a 6-foot high tsunami. More than 550 people were killed, and many more are still missing. It appears that the tsunami warning system installed by the Indonesian government failed to operate properly.

Further aftershocks have rocked the region.

The Tsunami Blog has more details.

UPDATE:
Mrs. Lawhawk notes that the area affected did not have the warning system installed as yet. It doesn't appear to matter, because Indonesian officials didn't bother letting the Indonesians know that they should head inland and they didn't pass along the warning from the scientists.

INDONESIA received alerts from two regional agencies that Monday's undersea earthquake could trigger a tsunami, but officials made no attempt to alert threatened communities, a government minister admitted yesterday.

Kusmayanto Kadiman, the science and technology minister, said bulletins came from the US Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre and Japan's meteorological agency, but "we did not announce them".

The warnings were sent about 45 minutes before the tsunami struck.

Even if the government had attempted to phone, radio or e-mail local authorities, it is unclear how the word would have been spread to residents or tourists on the beach, with no alarm systems in place.

There are conflicting stories over whether the Indonesians have any warning bouys in place -some say that there's a single bouy, others say that there are no working bouys because they were somehow damaged. The Indonesian government doens't know what the situation is, and alternatively claims poverty or that the money provided in the aftermath of the December 2004 tsunami wasn't earmarked for the warning system.

Those are empty excuses.