The Afghan earthquake has killed thousands and on a balance of probabilities was caused by the new U. S. bunker-busting 'thermobaric' (or should that be, 'thermo-barbaric'?) bombs which are being used in a quest to kill one man, Osama bin Laden. If the Americans claim that their bombs wouldn't cause an earthquake if used in a seismically unstable area, perhaps they can demonstrate their confidence by testing them near the San Andreas fault.