Tsunami warning for NZ

A tidal wave as big as the devastating Boxing Day tsunami is on the cards to hit New Zealand and the east coast of Australia within 10 years, say scientists.

In the wake of last year's tsunami, which hit 13 countries and left about 230,000 people dead or missing, senior earthquake analysts have been keeping a close watch on earthquake activity around Indonesia and the Pacific.

Professor Peter Mora, from the University of Queensland Earth Systems Computational Centre, said Sumatra's west coast was a hot spot for large earthquakes but an earthquake of that size was just as likely in the Pacific in the region above New Zealand.

Only earthquakes above magnitude 8 created dangerous tsunamis, he said.

Scientists are also predicting another big earthquake and tsunami off the coast of Sumatra - which is close to a fault line - but further south than that which happened on Boxing Day.

The earthquakes that cause tsunamis happen when the earth's tectonic plates move after pressure builds up over time.

- HERALD ON SUNDAY