Sunday, November 2, 2008

Devastating Tsunami Had A Predecessor

2004 Tsunami

From ABC News (Australia):

A full-sized forerunner to the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami hit the region between 500 and 700 years ago, a new study suggests.

Two groups of geoscientists report evidence today in the journal Nature that a similar event occurred around 1400 AD.

Until now there has been no historical record of a predecessor to the Indian Ocean tsunami and the associated magnitude 9.2 associated earthquake. More than 220,000 people throughout southern Asia and as far away as the east coast of Africa died in the disaster.

Amy Prendergast from Geoscience Australia in Canberra, Australia and colleagues studied the sedimentary record on an island north of Phuket, Thailand to help pin point the date of ancient tsunamis.

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