'Indonesian detection buoys dysfunctional since 2012'

Sunday's tsunami was caused by Krakatau's volcanic activity. Pic/AFP

As efforts to collect hundreds of bodies and save the injured were stepped up in Indonesia on Monday following the country's latest tsunami, scientists collected evidence on how a volcanic eruption triggered the weekend tragedy.

Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, spokesman for Indonesia Disaster Mitigation Agency, acknowledged on Twitter that the country's network of detection buoys had been dysfunctional since 2012, due to vandalism and budget shortfalls.

But the head of Indonesia's Meteorology, Climatology and Geophysics Agency, Dwikorita Karnawati, said that the tsunami was caused by Krakatau's volcanic activity, so could not have been picked up by her agency's sensors, which monitor the conventional tectonic earthquakes that are responsible for more many Indonesia's tsunamis.

Casualty figures from Saturday night's disaster continued to rise, with at least 373 people confirmed dead and more than 1,400 injured. The death toll was certain to rise further, with 128 people still missing from the affected areas along the coastlines of western Java and southern Sumatra islands, where military personnel and volunteers were conducting search.

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