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Manslaughter charges

September 20, 2011

A group of scientists have been put on trial on manslaughter charges for not sufficiently warning residents of L'Aquila, Italy of the risk of a major temblor ahead of the 2009 earthquake that killed more than 300 people.

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An aerial view of the destruction in the city of L'Aquila
Much of the city of L'Aquila was destroyed in the 2009 quakeImage: AP

The members of a panel that met six days before a deadly earthquake in L'Aquila, Italy went on trial Tuesday, for allegedly giving "inexact, incomplete and contradictory information" about whether a series of small tremors felt in the city in the six months before the April 6, 2009 earthquake meant they should have issued a warning.

Prosecutors have focused on a memo issued by the panel of six scientists and one government official the week before the earthquake. In the note, the experts concluded that it was "improbable" that were would be a major earthquake but that it was still a possibility.

Also on trial is Bernardo De Bernardinis, a spokesman with Italy's Civil Protection agency. In a now infamous interview, De Bernardinis told a journalist that the seismic situation in L'Aquila was normal and posed "no danger." He said the scientific community assured him that the situation was favorable because the continuous tremors meant a discharge of energy.

"I hope that this trial will change mindsets and will lead to greater attention given to communication of risks," said Vincenzo Vittorini, whose wife and daughter were killed in the disaster. "No one expected to be told the exact time of the quake. We just wanted to be warned that we were sitting on a bomb," he added.

Firefighters remove debris in the city of L'Aquila after the earthquake
Image: AP

Prosecutors say area residents should have been told to leave their homes.

"We simply want justice," L'Aquila prosecutor Alfredo Rossini told reporters.

But Francesco Petrelli, the defense lawyer for the head of the scientific committee, Franco Barberi, said the scientists merely assessed the risk associated with the tremors and found that thousands of similar ones had over the centuries only led to an earthquake four times.

"The committee's role was to consult with the civil protection agency, which it did responsibly, and not to advise the public," he said.

Earthquake prediction impossible

The 6.3-magnitude earthquake killed more than 300 people and destroyed L'Aquila's historic center and medieval churches. Some 120,000 people were affected by the quake and the survivors lived in tent camps or temporary housing for months afterward.

Seismologists are watching the case closely and many see it as an unfair attack on science.

"This is a trial which opens on very shaky foundations. You cannot put science on trial," Alfredo Biondi, the lawyer for one of the defendants told the news service AFP.

More than 5,000 international researchers signed an open letter sent to Italian President Giorgio Napolitano saying that the defendants face charges for what amounts to failing to predict an earthquake, something scientists say remains impossible.

Italian geochemist Benedetto De Vivo, refused to sign the letter, however, saying it misses the point.

"It is true an earthquake cannot be forecast. But it's also true that you can't give assurance that the situation is under control and nothing will happen," he said.

De Vivo described the scientists as arrogant and said they should have kept the local residents on high alert.

Author: Holly Fox (AFP, AP)
Editor: Rob Turner