Italian Seismologists Charged With Manslaughter for Not Predicting 2009 Quake

[Bob Hubbard]

Italian government officials have accused the country's top seismologist of manslaughter, after failing to predict a natural disaster that struck Italy in 2009, a massive devastating earthquake that killed 308 people.

A shocked spokesman for the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) likened the accusations to a witch hunt.

...

Enzo Boschi, the president of Italy's National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV), will face trial along with six other scientists and technicians, after failing to predict the future and the impending disaster.

Earthquakes are, of course, nearly impossible to predict, seismologists say. In fact, according to the website for the USGS, no major quake has ever been predicted successfully.

http://www.foxnews.com/scitech/2011...rged-manslaughter-failing-predict-earthquake/

 

[Carol]

Whaaaat?????

 

[MA-Caver]

Been reading about this... and my reaction is Give me a muthafricken break... NOBODY can predict earthquakes any better than they can predict the exact location of a (natural) lightning strike or where a bug is going to smack a windshield or where the next raindrop will fall.
You live in a earthquake prone area you gonna get shook up and maybe a building falling on top of you. You live in a hurricane path your house is gonna get messed up, you live in tornado prone areas you're sleeping in it's path, live right on the shores and you might get swamped by a tsunami and on and on... it's where you choose to live and thus you gotta either move or deal with whatever the planet throws at you. It's sad and it's tragic that people get hurt, killed and lose everything during a natural disaster but it's where people choose to live.
There are very FEW places on this planet where things remain constant but they're inhospitable for humans.

 

[CoryKS]

And now Italy will never have another seismologist, ever again. Good thinking, guys.

 

[Blade96]

say huh

 

[granfire]

And now Italy will never have another seismologist, ever again. Good thinking, guys.

Well, since you can't predict them, and the neighboring countries can tell them where they happened and how deep...

Hmmmm, seems Italy has some precedent in putting science in trial....

 

[Sukerkin]

:shakes head: Please tell me this is not 'real'?

 

[Ken Morgan]

I don't know, given the right circumstance, I've been known to make the earth move for members of the fairer sex......
and I could predict THAT was going to happen.....

 

[granfire]

I don't know, given the right circumstance, I've been known to make the earth move for members of the fairer sex......
and I could predict THAT was going to happen.....

But were you in Italy during the time frame in question?

 

[bushidomartialarts]

I don't know, given the right circumstance, I've been known to make the earth move for members of the fairer sex......
and I could predict THAT was going to happen.....

I'm pretty sure Italy wasn't faking that earthquake....

 

[RandomPhantom700]

i'm pretty sure italy wasn't faking that earthquake....

zing!