(CNN)A tsunami which struck southern China around a thousand years ago nearly wiped out civilization in what is now one of the most densely populated regions of the planet, according to a new study by Chinese scientists.
The devastation caused by the giant wave raises new questions over the potential vulnerability of the region today, particularly in the wake of last month's Indonesian tsunami and the ongoing expansion of nuclear power plants in southern China.
Writing in the journal Chinese Science Bulletin this month, researchers at the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and East China Normal University said archaeological and sedimentary evidence, backed up by brief mentions in the historical record, pointed to a massive wave hitting what is now Guangdong province around 1076 AD, during the Song Dynasty.
The effects of the tsunami appear to have been devastating, resulting in a "drastic cultural decline" which did not rebound until some five hundred years later.
