For the people of earthquake-ravaged Sumatra and much of south-east Asia, the worst may be yet to come. That’s the message from seismologists who say that Monday’s magnitude-8.7 quake could be just the first in a series triggered by the earthquake in December that led to the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami. The death toll from Monday’s quake was unclear as New Scientist went to press.
Two weeks ago, John McCloskey at the University of Ulster, UK, and two colleagues said that December’s quake had increased the risk of another large earthquake along the Sunda fault off the coast of Sumatra,…
