Tsunami siren stirs anger in Aceh

An earlier alert had sent thousands fleeing in panic

Residents near the capital of Indonesia's Aceh province have disabled a tsunami warning system.

The residents cut the power to the siren on a tsunami warning tower by throwing rocks at it.

They were angered by a false alarm that sent thousands of people in the capital and a nearby area rushing from their homes to higher ground on Monday.

Many people in Aceh are still traumatised by the 2004 tsunami in which thousands were killed.

A false alarm on Monday morning in the Kaju district near the capital, Banda Aceh, caused panic, with thousands fleeing to higher ground.

Frustrated

When another siren sounded in nearby Lhoknga, frustrated residents threw rocks at its electrical panel, said Syahnan Sobri of the local Meteorological and Geophysics Agency.

"It was too high up, so they stoned it," he said.

Mr Sobri said that while the connection had been cut the actual warning equipment had not been damaged.

He added that technicians were being sent to the scene to survey the damage but that the warning system had been temporarily switched off in Banda Aceh and the surrounding area.

Indonesia was the country worst hit by the Indian Ocean tsunami in 2004, which killed more than 168,000 people in Aceh alone.