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If only American meteorologists were held to the same accountability. Seems in a time of intense economic downturn, Italy can’t really afford any more disastrous, economy-draining events, even if the only ones truly accountable are tectonic plates.
This week, 6 scientists and an ex-government official were sentenced to six years in prison for not predicting an earthquake that struck L’Aquila, Italy in 2009 which resulted in the death of 309 people.
According to members of the prosecution, the scientists were “just too reassuring” given that there’d been several tremors in the months before the incident, and this weekend were sentenced on multiple counts of manslaughter.
According to the BBC: The seven – all members of the National Commission for the Forecast and Prevention of Major Risks – were judged to have provided “inexact, incomplete and contradictory” information about seismic activity in the area. One witness, Guido Fioravanti, recalled his parents refusing to leave the house, and mainly because of what the Commission said.
Scientists meanwhile, have insisted that earthquakes are ‘inherently impossible’ to predict, and some even believe that science as a whole is taking a major hit due to the illogical actions of Italian Courts and what they believe to be unfair actions of the Justice System there.
Suffice it to say this whole thing is pretty preposterous — the 6 years they’ll be serving out especially. Honestly hopefully some kind of international outrage/pressure pours in on the Italians over this incident and they suspend the sentence. The public lambasting and their ‘scientific shortcomings’ should serve as enough of a reminder for the rest of their lives.
Jeff Nau – who has written 1264 posts on The Jace Hall Show.
Jeff Nau is a main contributor to the Jace Hall Show covering pop culture and music trends in the nerd community. He has contributed to San Diego City Beat, 944, and Ill Literature, amongst others, and spends his spare time working as an artist and photographer.

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