It’s hard to escape from the aftermath of Sunday’s earthquake. Today’s newspaper is full of grisly photographs of dead bodies, and for once it seems appropriate (though I am sure there will still be complaints).
As feared, the death toll is still rising, though it’s a sobering thought that (as Harry reminds us), it will still fall far short of the number who died in Tangshan, China in 1976. The official estimate was around 250,000, but the figure may well have been substantially higher.
I can’t really add anything useful to what others have said. Shaky has pointed out that there is already a comprehensive Wikipedia article on the subject:
Based on one seismic model, some of the smaller islands southwest of Sumatra have moved southwest up to 20 m (66 ft). The northern tip of Sumatra, which is on the Burma Plate as opposed to the southern regions on the Sunda Plate, may also have moved southwest up to 36 m (120 ft).
It’s really hard to comprehend the enormity of it all.
Ordinary Gweilo 
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