Tsunami scientists and public safety officials are closely watching an earthquake-prone nation with thousands of miles of crowded coastlines for signs of an imminent disaster. Indonesia? Japan? Try the United States.
Experts say the West Coast could experience a calamity similar to the one they have been watching unfold half a world away.
"People need to know it could happen," said geologist Brian Atwater of the U.S. Geological Survey
A mother stands watch as her child plays in a puddle of water near her earthquake-shattered home in Kodiak, Alaska in this March 1964 file photo. The water was left by tidal waves caused by the earthquake. Scientists say grinding geologic circumstances similar to those in Sumatra also exist just off the Pacific Northwest coast. They are a loaded gun that could trigger a tsunami that could hit Northern California, Washington, Oregon and British Columbia in minutes, too fast for the nation's deep-sea tsunami warning system to help. (AP Photo/File)
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