Inter Press Service (subscription), World
The tsunami caused by a massive undersea earthquake in the Indian Ocean on Dec. 26 claimed over 150,000 lives and caused overwhelming destruction to countries in South and Southeast Asia, as well as Africa.
Carlos Pullinger, director of the Geological Service of El Salvador, told IPS, "The threat of a tsunami is viewed as relatively minor in Latin America, when in fact, it is not. Hopefully, what happened in Asia will put pressure on the region's governments to create warning systems and educate the population."
The danger is posed by the tectonic plates off the Pacific coast of Latin America, from Mexico to Chile, and others in the Caribbean. If these were to shift and generate a quake measuring more than 8.0 on the Richter scale, the region could be lashed by killer waves with the same destructive force as those that hit Asia.
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