Given the size of the quake, damage can be expected with a 100 km radius of the epicenter, says Robbie Morris, a project scientist with the Australian Tsunami Warning System.

The principle is simple: a fault segment that has ruptured in a large quake in the past will-once enough strain has again accumulated-likely fail again in a similar-size earthquake.

The earthquake was so powerful, measuring at least 7.9 in magnitude, that a certain amount of damage could not be prevented.