Facebook was full of lame jokes about damage yesterday. The most popular seems to have been the photo with a lawn chair turned on its side.

The reality is rather more sobering. Significant damage to the National Cathedral.

Here’s a taste of the damage:

All of the photos are here. As someone who spends a great deal of time and energy caring for a historic building, I shudder to think about the cost of restoration.

Many commentators observed that Twitter and Facebook were the means by which people learned of the earthquake. The speed with which the news (and the jokes) circulated meant that the information we received was unfiltered and the real impact unknown. I should think it’s important to pause and reflect before passing judgment on events–whether it’s a natural disaster like an earthquake or the rapidly-evolving scene in Libya.

Here’s a link to the National Cathedral’s website.

Here’s the story from the Episcopal News Service.