Another major tsunami likely

Another devastating earthquake along the coast of western Sumatra is likely during the lifetime of many people now living there, U.S. researchers warned Friday.

More than 200,000 died when a quake in that region generated a tsunami across the Indian Ocean on Dec. 26, 2004, and quakes have continued, including a major shock in 2007.

A research team led by geologist Kerry Sieh of Caltech reported in the journal Science that a quake with loss of life and property equal to that of 2004 could occur within the next few decades.

In studying quake data and sea level changes recorded on corals, researchers found a series of events from 1350 to 1380, from 1606 to 1685 and from 1797 to 1833. The 2007 quake seems to be part of a similar pattern, they suggested, but they cannot make an exact forecast.

“Nevertheless, to those living in harm’s way on the coasts of western Sumatra, it should be useful to know that the next great earthquake and tsunami are likely to occur . . . well within the lifetimes of children and young adults living there,” Sieh’s team concluded.