Did an Indian seismologist predict the latest Indonesian earthquake?

Nias island in Indonesia faced a series of large aftershocks today following the devastating 8.7 magnitude earthquake that hit the region on Monday. One of the aftershocks reached 6.3 on the Richter scale.

Last week I blogged on the findings of an Indian seismologist, Dr Vineet Gahlart who predicted on March 17 there could be another large quake in the region, as the January 26 earthquake had increased stress on the fault system separating India and Indonesia. Sadly, it appears Gahlart's prediction came true, and far sooner than most people expected.

The latest earthquakes are feared to have cost 2,000 lives, with the UN predicting this number will rise. The most disturbing thing about such predictions is that we heard similar things in the days following the boxing day disaster, as the number of dead rose from the tens of thousands to the hundreds of thousands.