Govt to install 23 tsunami buoys until late 2008

The tsunami buoys would be installed at a depth of 2,054 meters below the sea level, Ridwan said at a media briefing about a "tsunami drill" to be carried out in Banten province on December 26, 2007.

He said the tsunami buoys would directly transmit data to the Meteorology and Geophysics Agency (BMG).

"We checked the tsunami buoys` sophistication on December 14 including the water height," he said, adding that the tsunami buoys were equipped with sensors and data transmission instruments.

Ridwan said the government would conduct an evacuation exercise involving 10,000 people in Banten`s coastal area on December 26 witnessed by President Susilo Bambang Yudhohono.

The first evacuation drill was carried out in Padang, West Sumatra, on December 26, 2005 followed by the second one in Bali on December 26, 2006.