Earthquake!

There was an earthquake here this morning, about 6.20am. Reports say it measured 4.7 on the Richter scale and the epicentre was around 20km east of here - between Malmö and Ystad.

I woke up to the sound of a big bang, and the house shook for about 20 seconds as it tailed off. It's the biggest earthquake in Sweden since 1904 - that one was a 6 - much bigger. No damage here to report, but there were a lot of calls to emergency services and may be some cracks in building facades. It could be felt across the water in Copenhagen.

See the news report here and the US geological survey report here.

Back from Syria...

Back from Syria... I've uploaded the photos in full resolution, including those from the last blog post. You can see them here.

My trip took me to Damascus, Palmyra, Homs and Deir Ezzor, as well as the drilling rig sites in the deserts and hills north east of Palmyra where the Bedouin still herd their sheep. Highlights were the Roman ruins in Palmyra and the seemingly endless market stalls and alleyways of Damascus. In the west there are olive groves, almond trees and vineyards, giving way to desert in the east. The Euphrates river passes though Deir Ezzor, not far from the Iraqi border - the river valley is very green and fertile.

The people were friendly and hospitable and the food was good - olives (grown locally), hommus (sometimes with tahini), halva, lentil soup and everything served with flat bread. Also good was the Lebanese wine - from Chateau Ksara or Clos St Thomas.