CNN wrote:Seven people went on trial for manslaughter Tuesday in Italy, accused of failing to predict an earthquake that killed more than 300 people in L'Aquila in April 2009.
The seven -- six scientists from the Italian National Institute of Geophysics and Vulcanology and a member of the Civil Protection Agency -- were members of a governmental panel that prosecutors accuse of giving a "rough, generic and ineffective assessment of the seismic risk."
The seven, members of a so-called "major risks" panel, published "inaccurate, incomplete and contradictory information about the dangers of seismic activity undermining the protection of the population," prosecutors said.
The first hearing Tuesday morning in L'Aquila's tribunal was devoted to technical matters and claims by injured parties.
The city of L'Aquila has requested 50 million euros ($68 million) in compensation.
Only one defendant was in court, the vice president of the panel, Bernardo De Bernardinis. "I thought it was important to be here, not only because this is my turf but also to underline the professionalism ... of the other public officers," De Bernardinis told reporters.
http://www.cnn.com/2011/09/20/world/eur ... =allsearch
According to other tidbits in the article, the apparent basis of the trial is that these scientists didn't give warning of an impending earthquake, which would've prevented an unnecessary loss of life.
... which, if you know anything about the subject, is utter bullshit. Not even the best minds in California can even come up with a way to "predict" the onset of a major earthquake. Hell, their best attempt at evaluating seismic risk is essentially a conglomeration of previous evaluation work from companies that were "close enough" in their evaluation of site seismic hazards.
What say you? Does this trial do an injustice to the scientific community? As a bonus, do you believe that scientists will be able to predict - with accuracy - a seismic event with enough time to evacuate the public?
