Indonesian Cities Lie in Shadow of Cyclical Tsunami, Scientists Say

Two Indonesian cities that escaped the devastating tsunamis of December 2004 are at risk of inundation over the next few decades from undersea earthquakes predicted along the coast of Sumatra, researchers say.

The researchers, using computer models, produced simulations showing that a major earthquake could send a series of waves 15 to 20 feet high sweeping ashore around Padang or Bengkulu, coastal cities of 800,000 and 350,000 just south of the Equator on Sumatra’s Indian Ocean coast. Many seismologists say such quakes are inevitable off the coast near those cities.

The analysis was published Monday on the Web by The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

from the NY Times