Quote: "Taiwan's largest telephone company, Chunghwa Telecom Co, said damage to an undersea cable had disrupted 98% of Taiwan's communications with Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand and Hong Kong. Repairs could take three weeks, Vice-General Manager Lin Jen-hung said, but quality would improve daily. Telecommunications companies in Hong Kong, Japan and China also reported problems. China's biggest telecomms provider, China Telecommunications Group, said that communications cables to the US and to Europe had been damaged.

Ironically on the same day, Scotland was hit by an earthquake measuring 3.5 on the Richter Scale, the largest to hit the UK in four years. The UK does not lie on any fault lines, which means that moderately sized earthquakes are rarely experienced in this country.

Quote: "The British Geological Survey reported that the earthquake which shook Scotland on Boxing Day was of magnitude 3.5, making it the largest earthquake to hit the UK since November 2002. The British Geological Survey reported the epicentre of the earthquake as being just north of Dumfries. The organisation noted that while the quake was significant, it was not uncommon.

Both these earthquakes occurred on December 26th, in what seems to becoming "international earthquake day". On December 26th 2004, Indonesia was struck by an earthquake measuring around 10 on the Richter Scale, generating a tsunami that killed over a quarter of a million people. On December 26th 2003, an earthquake struck Bam, Iran killing around 26,000 people. 

Source BBC, Green Clippings, CHN Press