A latest research has claimed that the devastating Indian Ocean tsunami of 2004 that took more than 200,000 lives was not the first of its kind to hit the region.

Other than this, the study also says that such gigantic tsunamis occur in the Indian Ocean every 600 to 700 years. These finding could be used to predict the next Tsunami.

Karin Monecke, former post-doctoral geologist at Kent State University in Aceh, Indonesia led the research team.  

According to a Kent State release, "Another research team working independently concluded that a tsunami of similar size struck the region between 1300 and 1400 AD."

More than 100 sediment cores collected during fieldwork in 2006 and 2007 were analyzed by each team, and it also discovered traces of several tsunamis that may have occurred during the last 2,500 years.

These results have been published in this week's edition of 'Nature.'