Got family in England riding out the big quake. The following is a mass email from our Mancurian colony, basically telling family here that everyone's still ok, not to worry:

"I thought you would like to know that it lasted for awhile, was 5.2 on the Richter scale and it felt like there was an elephant under the bed. I thought the cats were having a fight on the bed and almost shouted at them until Dan said it was probably an earthquake. The house then spent the next half an hour settling down, with much creaking and groaning of pipes. The in-laws, who were pretty much near the epicentre of the quake slept through the thing... I ask you? Poppy is convinced that the trampoline has walked off the patio onto the surrounding gravel...hmmm. Ok. end of excitement. Now I need some sleep."

Good idea.

Meantime, despite the number of nasty shocks Indonesia's had in the last few weeks and predictions of the "big one" yet to come, CalTech quake expert, Prof K Sieh, assures us that 'tectonically, Singapore's possibly one of the safest places on Earth.'

Good to know.