Jakarta  - A tsunami early warning system developed and funded with German assistance is to begin operations Tuesday in Indonesia, nearly four years after the Asian tsunami of December 2004, which claimed 230,000 lives.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, who attended the launch ceremony in Jakarta, called the system a "milestone for international disaster preparedness."

The German government financed the 45-million-euro (58-million- dollar) project.

The 2004 tsunami was triggered by an earthquake that measured 9.3 on the Richter scale off the coast of the Indonesian island of Sumatra. The German Research Centre for Geosciences said the death toll would have been considerably lower if an early warning system had been in place at the time.

The system makes use of sensors placed on the seabed that relay details of changes in water pressure to buoys on the surface. The information is then transmitted via satellite to a tsunami early warning centre in Indonesia.

Indonesia is one of the world's most earthquake-prone countries. It sits atop the Pacific Ocean's Ring of Fire, where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.

The 2004 quake and tsunami, which struck off Indonesia's Aceh province, killed more than 170,000 people there alone.

Other tsunami early warning systems have been installed in other countries, including Thailand and India. (dpa)