Sumatra stresses may portend more quakes

The news today is full of a Nature paper that models the stress changes after the 26 December earthquake and claims a high likelihood of a severe shock on the Sumatra fault. That strike-slip fault runs right under Banda Aceh and would pile destruction on destruction (this press release (Word doc) from Ulster University has a good diagram of the situation). Similar changes in stress affect the Sunda Trench to the south of the 26 December quake, and a subduction event there could raise another tsunami.

The science of stress triggering is reasonable, but its practical use is still highly experimental.