Tsunami buoy laid in Indian ocean

Do you remember the apocalyptic pictures of the 2004 tsunami in Asia?

Some more news from the BBC.

The first of a planned network of tsunami early warning buoys is being laid in the Indian Ocean.

The buoy is being placed between Thailand and Sri Lanka, two of the countries worst-hit by the 2004 tsunami which killed more than 200,000 people.

The buoy, provided by the US, is able to detect sudden increases in pressure deep under the sea and give coastal communities early warning of a tsunami.

The US already operates a similar system in the Pacific Ocean. The cost of the US-designed device is being shared by the US and Thailand.

A Thai Navy ship carrying it sailed from the holiday island of Phuket, which was badly hit by the Asian tsunami. It will be anchored about 1,000 km (620 miles) off the west coast of Thailand, near the Nicobar islands.

It is hoped that eventually a network of 24 buoys will extend to Indonesia and Australia, along the deep and unstable fault-line that caused the 2004 earthquake.