Detailed maps identifying the reach of the Dec 26 tsunami as well as vulnerable areas in Tamil Nadu and the Andaman and Nicobar Islands should the disaster recur have been prepared by the Department of Ocean Development.

The 'Tsunami Inundation Mapping in the Coastal Districts of Tamil Nadu', submitted to the state government, gives detailed information on areas that went under water on Dec 26 when giant tsunami waves hit the state's coast from 9 a.m. to about 2 p.m.

"We have covered every village affected by the tsunami," said B.R. Subramanian, project director of the Integrated Coastal and Marine Area Management project.

There are about 200 areas in the eastern coastline, which could go under water if such events recur.

The department's survey covered 59 villages and two townships in Cuddalore and Nagapattinam districts for inundation mapping.

According to the map, flooding has occurred in some areas in Nagapattinam, which are as far as 1.1 km away from the sea.

"On an average, inundation occurred at a distance of 50 m to 1.1 km from the sea on Tamil Nadu's coast," he said.

"We have prepared the map to help the state government in the resettlement of the tsunami-affected families to safer locations," Subramanian said.

The study assumes significance in view of recent predictions by Irish scientists that another temblor may occur on the Sunda faultline, giving rise to another set of tsunami waves in the Indian Ocean, which will not only affect the Indonesian coast but reach the Indian coast too.

The project aims to help the Andaman and Tamil Nadu administrations in keeping people away from certain areas and resettling tsunami affected families away from vulnerable areas.

The tsunami killed over 280,000 people worldwide and more than 10,000 in India, including about 7,000 in Tamil Nadu.