Failed big-time - I hope that heads will roll on this. From Yahoo/Reuters:
Indonesia tsunami sensors missed huge waves: official
Indonesia's geophysics agency lifted a tsunami warning 34 minutes after it was first issued following a major earthquake that sent huge waves crashing into the northeastern coast of Sulawesi island, killing hundreds and leaving thousands more homeless.
The 7.5 magnitude quake and tsunami, which hit the city of Palu about 1,500 km (940 miles) from Jakarta and further along the coastline, killed at least 384 people. Officials said on Saturday the death toll was likely to rise.
Hundreds of people had gathered for a festival on the beach in Palu on Friday when waves as high as six metres (18 feet) smashed onshore at dusk, sweeping many to their death.
The geophysics agency (BMKG) faced criticism on Saturday on social media, with many questioning if the tsunami warning was lifted too soon.
Sounds like they had a complete failure understanding the physics of a tsunami in the open ocean:
He said the closest tide gauge, which measures changes in sea level, only recorded an "insignificant", six-centimetre (2.5 inches) wave and did not account for the giant waves near Palu.
No word on where this tide gauge was located but in the open ocean, a 2.5" tsunami is something to be genuinely feared. This is not just a ripple on the surface, this is the entire column of water moving in one direction. When this volume of water approaches the shallows of the shoreline, only then does it become the massive wave of the classical tsunami. Ships at sea have withstood tsunamis with only minor shaking.
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