How development made tsunami worse - Technology & Science - MSNBC.com

MSNBC.com: WASHINGTON - Coral mining, landscaping and other instances of human development in Sri Lanka helped last December's devastating tsunami sweep even further inland than it might have, causing intense destruction, scientists said Thursday.

They recommended that officials and developers in areas that might be threatened by tsunamis take note.
"The implications are applicable for any other tsunami," Harinda Joseph Fernando of Arizona State University said in a statement. "We'd like this report to sound an alarm that governments have to be more careful about enforcing coral poaching and destroying the beaches' natural defenses."