A few minutes ago I read an email from Steve Jones telling me that there has been an earthquake in Sumatra and that over twenty people have been killed. I have heard nothing from Richard, Adele and Christophe, nor do I expect to, and there is no way that I can get in touch with them.
The epicentre of the earthquake seems to be in Aceh (A) which is about 1,000 miles from Kerinci Seblat (B) where the expedition is underway. As far as I am aware there is no earthquake damage reported from that part of the island, so I hope and pray that they are OK.
Back in 2007, when the CFZ expedition to Guyana was underway, there was a minor skirmish between Guyana and (as far as I remember) Venezuela. The British tabloids elevated the status of this minor incident to that of a small war, and cryptopundits who really should have known accused me of "putting CFZ explorers lives at risk by not recalling them immediately", conveniently ignoring the fact that there was no way that I could have done so. The same applies now. I am not in contact with the team, and do not expect to hear from Richard again until he gets back to Singapore airport, late next week.
In the meantime, my thoughts and prayers are with them, and I promise that should I hear anything I will let you all know.
