He believes another killer tsunami is coming...... please click read more to find out why.

Sieh said this weekend: “No one can predict exactly when an earthquake will happen but it was clear that this area was at relatively high risk and such an event would definitely happen one day.

“We told them it would kill people, wreck infrastructure and destroy livelihoods. But our warnings were falling on deaf ears.

“My team and I decided to bypass the national and local government and start warning people directly. I hope our efforts saved some lives.”

Ten years ago Sieh installed monitors on islands off Sumatra. His research focused on the Mentawai Islands, a chain 100 miles south of the epicentre of the Boxing Day quake. Communication has not been re-established with the islands since the tsunami.

At his speech to the annual meeting of the American Geophysical Union in San Francisco, he pointed out that, historically, such events have occurred in clusters.

Sieh believes this means another quake could be on the way: “There is some evidence that the stresses on the tectonic plates south of the epicentre may now have increased and raised the chances of another major earthquake.”

Dr. Sieh, a Professor of Geology at the California Institute of Technology and a senior partner in Earth Consultants International, is an internationally recognized expert on active faults and earthquake hazards. His documentation of ancient earthquakes and slip rates along the San Andreas, San Jacinto and other California faults set the standard for quantitative estimates of the probability of future destructive earthquakes in California. He has completed three similar studies in Turkey along the North Anatolian Fault for the purpose of evaluating and advising on the future seismic risk to client industrial facilities. He has served on numerous scientific peer-review committees and advisory panels for State and Federal governments and has served as a consultant to various public utilities, municipalities and geotechnical firms.