June 2011
Attention Prognosticators: "Italian scientists charged with manslaughter for failing to predict earthquake"
Sept. 2012
Attention Prognosticators: "Italian Prosecutors Target Scientists Who Failed To Predict the Future"
Oct. 2012
Convicted: Italian Scientists Who Failed to Warn of Earthquake
And here's the latest, from Matter:
Giulio Selvaggi was asleep when the shaking started. It was the night of April 5, 2009, and the head of Italy’s National Earthquake Center had worked late into the night in Rome before going home to crash.
From the motion of his bed, Selvaggi could tell the quake was big — but not close. When you’re near the epicenter of a major quake, it’s like being a kernel of corn inside a popcorn maker. When you’re farther away, the movement is slower and steadier, back and forth, as the shock waves hit you.Selvaggi hopped from the bed and checked his phone, but there were no messages. He hurried into the living room, dialing the office on the way.“Where is it?” he asked.“L’Aquila, 5.8,” came the answer.(It would later be classified as a 6.2.)Selvaggi’s first thought: At least it’s not a 7. A magnitude 7 quake centered in L’Aquila, a medieval town high in the mountains, would have killed 10,000 people....
...MUCH MORE
