Nepal Earthquake

“Our history is gone,” a Nepali said
of the centuries-old landmarks toppled in the quake.

As the full scale of Saturday's earthquake becomes clear, we think primarily of those whose lives have been devastated in this horrific manner. The destruction of historical buildings and districts is just one of the effects of this vast human disaster (Thomas Fuller, Chris Buckley ' Earthquake Aftershocks Jolt Nepal as Death Toll Rises Above 3,400' New York Times April 26, 2015). In addition, there will no doubt soon be undocumented broken buddhas and manuscripts surfacing on the market, clandestinely taken from ruined temples and monasteries. I wonder just how long it will be before we see the antiquities dealers (such as the ADCAEA) claiming that by buying them, US collectors living on the San Andreas Fault are "saving them" in the same way as they are currently cynically using ISIL destruction to justify their continued trade in Middle Eastern artefacts.