Indonesia dusts up stalled tsunami warning alarm

JAKARTA, July 19 (Reuters) Indonesia today stepped up repairs of a tsunami detection buoy in an effort to revive a stalled warning system after the quake-prone country failed to detect its second tsunami in almost as many years.

The device on a ship at the Jakarta port is one of two buoys deployed off Sumatra island last year as part of a project to install a tsunami early warning system to protect people living on the shores of Indonesia, the world's largest archipelago.

But both of them were found bobbing around the ocean in a damaged state barely six months after they were deployed, and have been sitting since then in storage waiting for spare parts.

Authorities dusted up the buoy in Jakarta amid mounting criticism after no sirens alerted residents of the southern Java coast of Monday's tsunami that killed more than 500 people and displaced thousands. ''The radio antenna of its modem is broken so data for detection were ruined. The chain to the anchor is also severed,'' said electrical engineer Handoko Manoto.

today, an earthquake measuring 6.2 shook the Indonesian capital, Jakarta, and its surroundings, the national earthquake centre said.

But there were no reports of casualties and the US-based Pacific Tsunami Warning Centre said there was no risk of a tsunami.

Indonesia first began setting up a tsunami warning system after the December 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, the worst on record, that left 230,000 dead or missing, including 170,000 in Indonesia.

The project aims to deliver tsunami alerts within five minutes of an undersea quake, but experts say that is just a dream until the archipelago of 17,000 islands has in place at least 22 buoys, 120 tide gauges with digital recordings, and 160 seismographs.

''We are very much in tears because a disaster happened when we are trying to realise this project,'' said Idwan Suhardi, a deputy at the Ministry of Research and Technology that oversees the ambitious plan.

Another ministry official said the project was short of funds while Transport Minister Hatta Rajasa told reporters the country also lacked other necessary equipment.

''Imagine this. From 160 seismographs needed we only have installed 36,'' said the minister who supervises the state meteorology and geophysics agency.

The late 2004 tsunami prompted international calls for a global warning system.

But international support and funding has waned since then.

Officials said Indonesia could not proceed without international aid and so far there had been scant pledges to fund the project which needs 120 million dollars to cover equipment costs alone.

Experts said even if the buoys had been in place and had detected Monday's tsunami, Java residents were still not guaranteed a warning as there were no sirens in place.

REUTERS SY RN1838