PTI
 
Banda Aceh, Jun 7: Angry residents in Indonesia's Aceh have disabled a tsunami warning system after a false alarm spread panic in a province still traumatised by the deadly 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami, an official said on Thursday.

Residents cut power to a siren on a tsunami warning tower in the Lhoknga area near the provincial capital Banda Aceh by smashing an electricity box, Syahnan Sobri, the head of the meteorology and geophysics agency in Aceh said.

A technical glitch prompted the siren to ring for about 30 minutes in Aceh Besar district on Monday, sending residents rushing out of their homes in panic.

"They cut the electricity connection but did not damage equipment," said Sobri, referring to the actual warning siren and tower.

"We are sending our technicians to the location to fix it. For the moment the warning system in Banda Aceh and Aceh Besar is still switched off," he said.

The Indian Ocean tsunami left some 170,000 people dead or missing in Aceh alone, inflicting deep psychological scars on many of the survivors.