Japanese research ship heads to Indonesia to study quake mechani

KAGOSHIMA, Japan - The 1,739-ton Natsushima, a deep-sea research vessel of the Japan Agency for Marine-Earth Science and Technology, heads to Indonesia on Feb. 2 to conduct research on underwater topography to study earthquake-causing mechanisms. Researchers aboard the ship plan to conduct the research for about a month, from February to March, near the epicenter of the Dec. 26 earthquake off northern Sumatra, which triggered the deadly Asian tsunami. (Kyodo)