Tsunami quake 9.15 on scale

The devastating December 26 earthquake that rocked the Indian Ocean and unleashed a tsunami that killed nearly 300,000 people was even stronger than officials had believed.

It measured 9.15 on the Richter scale, according to studies published in the journal Science.

Scientists from the University of California, Berkeley, the Wadia Institute of Himalayan Geology in India and the United States Geological Survey also found that the earthquake was longer than first thought, lasting at least an hour and perhaps up to three hours.