We have low populationdensity, clean air, fresh water, fertile land, an ocean on either side and a grand total of two nations on our borders. (One of which is a also a huge, stable and peaceful nation with clean air, fresh water, and fertile land and even lower populationdensity).
Its deadliness was linked, among other things, to the weakness of buildings, the depth of the quake, the density of population, the fault and soil types, and the intensity of the shaking.
There are also huge differences in populationdensity across the country, with the population per square kilometre ranging from nine in Eilean Siar (the Western Isles) and the Highlands to 3, 395 in Glasgow.