Major Earhtquakes may hit SE Asia

New Delhi: There have been increased seismic activities in the Java-Sumatra-Andaman region of South East Asia in the past one month, and scientists at the Indian Insititute of Technology (IIT), Mumbai, have warned of possibility of a major disaster in Southeast Asia in the near future.

PTI quoted D Chandrasekharam, a senior professor in IIT-Mumbai's Department of Earth Sciences, as saying that more than 52 earthquakes of varying magnitude were recorded in the region in the past one month.

"Since December 25, 2006 till January 24 morning, the entire Java-Sumatra-Andaman Island subduction zone experienced more than 51 earthquakes varying in magnitude from 4.2 to 7.5 on the Richter scale," the earth science expert said. "This appears to be a natural cyclic process but there is a possibility of it triggering a major disaster," he warned.

He, however, revealed that volcanic activities in the region had subsided after the devastating earthquake-triggered tsunami of December 2004.

The major earthquakes in the past one month include two major earthquakes of 7.1 magnitude each in Taiwan on December 26 and 7.5 in Molucca sea and two earthquakes of 4.9 and 6.1magnitude in Nicobar Islands.

Chandrasekharam claims the majority of these events are associated with 'thrust fault', an underground phenomenon that had caused the 2004 tsunami killing nearly 2.5 lakh people across several countries, including India.