Indonesia may have to catch a tsunami again

A strong earthquake will occur beneath Indonesia's Mentawai Islands and may cause tsunamis, a scientist predicts.

People in Aceh Province, Sumatra Island and Indonesia cleaned up the rubble after the tsunami in 2004. Photo: Reuters.

Kerry Sieh, director of the Earth Observatory, said an earthquake of magnitude 8.6 will occur below Siberut Island in the Mentawai Islands. Siberut Island is located along the Sunda fault line (also known as the Sunda trench) - where the Indo-Australian tectonic plate hits the Eurasian tectonic plate, creating the Pacific seismic belt. Scientists have not yet determined when the earthquake will occur.

"Disaster can happen in 30 seconds to 30 years. Geological documents show that, in the past 700 years, huge earthquakes have occurred along the Sunda groove in a 200-year cycle," Shieh said.

Telegraph quoted the scientist as saying that the power of the upcoming tsunami will be smaller than the tsunami killed more than 226,000 on December 26, 2004. However, it can still steal hundreds of thousands of lives because the affected area is Indonesia's populous coastal region.

Location of Siberut island in the archipelago of Mentawai, Indonesia.Photo: mentawaiadventure.com.

The Sunda Trench stretches from northern Myanmar to Sumatra Island, the Indonesian island of Indonesia and runs towards Timor Island.

A stretch of 1,600 km in the northern Sunda trench - extending from Myanmar to Aceh province in Sumatra island - was broken in 2004, causing a tsunami in the Indian Ocean. Big waves hit India and Africa. An earthquake below the Mentawai Islands will push waves to the southwest of the Indian Ocean. However, tsunamis can also advance towards the densely populated coast of Sumatra Island, Indonesia. The Mentawai Islands will lessen the power of tsunamis before it hits Sumatra.