An Italian court has found for failing to predict the 2009 L鈥橝quila earthquake that killed 286 people. The prosecution accused the seven men, who were, at the time, members of the National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks, of giving falsely reassuring statements after tremors struck the area six days before the deadly quake occurred. The defense maintained that earthquake prediction remains a wildly inaccurate and unpredictable science, and that the defendants had found no reason to issue a serious warning.
More than 5,000 scientists have already signed an sent to Italian President Giorgio Napolitano, calling the charges 鈥渦nfair and na茂ve,鈥 and urging him to put a stop to the proceedings. 鈥淭o accept more of science at this time is unreasonable,鈥 the letter reads. 鈥淚t is manifestly unfair for scientists to be criminally charged for failing to act on information that the international scientific community would consider inadequate as a basis for issuing a warning.鈥
All seven of the defendants are currently appealing the decision.
Via