Italian Scientists Jailed for Inaccurate Earthquake Prediction
October 24, 2012
The head of Italy’s disaster body–the National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks–resigned yesterday in protest of prison sentences given to seven colleagues in connection with a deadly 2009 earthquake. On October 22, an Italian court found six scientists and a former government official guilty of “multiple manslaughter” over the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake and sentenced them to six years in prison.
Prosecutors claimed the defendants had given a falsely reassuring statement before the 6.3-magnitude quake, which devastated the city of L’Aquila and killed 309 people. Judge Marco Billi ruled that the seven men–all members of the Risks Commission–provided “inexact, incomplete and contradictory” information about the danger of the tremors felt ahead of the quake.
The Risk Commission head, Luciano Maiani, a physicist, stated that the commission could not work “in such difficult conditions.” The commission’s vice-president and emeritus president also tendered their resignations. Believing that science has been put on trial, more than 5,000 scientists have signed a petition in support of the defendants.
Additional articles in World Book:
- Plate tectonics
- Seismology
- A Place Where Earth Speaks (a Special Report)
- When the Earth Moves (a Special Report)