...meanwhile, disaster is pretty much resolved, and price is back up to $45.50. If that was it, I think we can rule out software bugs as causing bitcoins to tank, and it will have to be something more social/political.
that is maybe the price of 9 minutes ago.
https://mtgox.com/api/1/generic/order/lag{"result":"success","return":{"lag":554576231,"lag_secs":554.576231,"lag_text":"9 minutes"}}