What's going on with the planet?

As if there wasn't enough already, what with the Sumatra-Andaman earthquake, 26 December 2004. That's the one that set off all those Indian Ocean tsunamis. The result? Massive destruction, death and long-term misery on an epic scale. End of August, Hurricane Katrina trashed Louisiana, Mississippi, and Alabama. More destruction, death and long-term misery. Last week, Hurricane Stan devasted whole swaths of Central America. Destruction, death and long-term misery, much of it untold. Now, this: Kashmir earthquake, 8 October 2005. More havoc, massive destruction, death and long-term misery. Why?

Earthquakes and active faults in northern Pakistan and adjacent parts of India and Afghanistan are the direct result of the Indian subcontinent moving northward at a rate of about 40 mm/yr (1.6 inches/yr) and colliding with the Eurasian continent. This collision is causing uplift that produces the highest mountain peaks in the world including the Himalayan, the Karakoram, the Pamir and the Hindu Kush ranges. As the Indian plate moves northward, it is being subducted or pushed beneath the Eurasian plate.

More? Techies will find maps, diagrams and other stuff about the Kashmir earthquake at this US federal government agency: Earthquake Hazards Program.
Elsewhere, blogs Pakquake; South Asia Quake Help.
What's going on with the planet? Structural adjustments. A veritable tremblement de terre. In any language, its harsh... Donate? Google for local Oxfam, Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF).