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The Indonesian government has defended itself against accusations it issued inadequate safety warnings as a powerful earthquake triggered a tsunami that killed at least 844 people.
The 7.5 magnitude earthquake hit Sulawesi island on Friday causing three-meter-high (10 foot) waves to surge over parts of its northwestern shore, with groups of people caught on the coastline, apparently unaware of the danger.
Experts underscored the difficulties of predicting tsunamis and raising safety alerts across Indonesia's vast archipelago of over 17,000 islands and 261 million people, but others pointed to a lack of government coordination and funding.
Online criticism from Indonesians centered on allegations that the country's meteorology and geophysics agency (BMKG) canceled the tsunami alert too early.
The alert was sounded shortly after 6 p.m. on Friday warning of potential waves of up to three meters. The warning was canceled at 6.36 p.m. However, the agency said the alert was lifted only after the tsunami hit.
In a statement, the head of the organization, Dwikorita Karnawati, called the allegations "not correct."
"Our work is based on computer system/artificial intelligence. The warning system was lifted with the approval of the 28 other countries along the Indian ocean," said Karnawati.
Phil Cummins, professor of natural hazards at Australian National University told CNN that while all the facts have yet to emerge, he doubted the warning sign issue was a major concern.
"During the time when a warning was potentially useful, it was apparently in effect, and that seems far more significant to me than having canceled it prematurely after the tsunami hit," he added.
Questions have focused on Indonesia's warning system, founded on a grid of 134 tide gauge stations and land seismographs, bolstered by education campaigns to train people in tsunami response.
Its warnings are transmitted by sirens and text messages.
"From the reports I've heard in the media, they (sirens) weren't operable because the power was knocked out by the earthquake," said Cummins. "If true, that's something that should really be looked into."
CNN has not been able to confirm these reports.
Experts also focused on the number of tidal gauge systems, which measure sea level at the coast, that are in use.
"134 tide gauge stations are not adequate to confirm tsunami generation for the country which perhaps has the most islands in the world," said Professor Costas Synolakis, director of the University of South California Tsunami Warning Center.
"To be effective, you need to have a tide gauge near every coastal community," he added.
Concerns over the government's readiness increased after Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesman for the country's national disaster agency (BNPB), admitted that none of the additional 22 deep water buoys connected to seafloor sensors to help monitor for tsunamis off Indonesia's coast had worked for the last six years.
The buoys are intended to work in addition to the tide gauge stations as part of Indonesia's Tsunami Early Warning System, designed after the devastating 2004 Aceh tsunami.