Indonesian earthquake station stripped of parts

An Indonesian earthquake warning station failed to alert authorities in Aceh about the Indian Ocean tsunami because thieves had stolen many of its key components.

The station was installed last August as part of a trial on Sipora Island, off the west coast of Sumatra.

The island is not far from the epicentre of the magnitude 9 earthquake on Boxing Day which triggered the tsunami.

While investigating the unit's failure, the Indonesian Institute of Science discovered the station had been stripped its solar panel, battery and GPS location receiver prior to the disaster.