[muawiyah]

Note, you must be very careful to differentiate Penang, the island, from Penang, the state. Intriguingly "they" found the oldest building ever built in Penang state last year. It appears to have been some sort of business office like a tax collector would use.

BTW, the island goes up to 2400 feet. Not knowing how high a tsunami would need to be to give the Ming the idea it was "barren" let's say 500 ft would probably do the job. Hillsides could probably supply whatever else was needed for rebuilding.

Settlement in this area has been very slow to arrive ~

[Gondring]

Note, you must be very careful to differentiate Penang, the island, from Penang, the state.

I took it you meant the island. You didn't mean the state, did you?!

And are you now saying that the tsunami didn't wash over the island like a turtle, but just lapped upon the shores?

That argument still doesn't hold water, as the mineralogy of the residual soil is documented and shows that it is formed in-situ, not brought in from the hillsides. And even in the tropical climate, it didn't form in 600 years.

With no evidence of a tsunami washing the soil from Penang, even in the lowlands, the whole idea falls apart and confirms the lack of evidence or plausible mechanism elsewhere.