David, I agree about Bryson book. I really enjoyed the whole book. his stuff about sharks and his attempts at body surfing really had me laughing. I agree that he must be a keen observer, in every sense. Sorry I have no personal experience with the octopus's blue ring. It might just be the cold
The quake I was talking about was in Boulder (Kalgoorlie) about 3 years ago. When we visited in the july the whole main street of Boulder was all scaffolded with lots of damage, most shops were closed. I recall it was a 5.3 quake.