Scientists express concern over L’Aquila verdict
On 6 April 2009 an earthquake of a magnitude of 6.3 on the Richter Scale struck the region of L’Aquila, Italy, destroying the city center and killing 308 people and injuring 1 600. On 26 October 2012, an Italian court found six of Italy’s most respected seismologists and a seismic specialist from Italy’s civil protection guilty of manslaughter.
The verdict has raised grave concerns in the international scientific community agency. Both the European Geosciences Union [EGU] and the American Geophysical Union [AGU] have published articles on their respective web sites warning that the verdict could be harmful to international efforts to understand natural disasters and mitigate associated risks, as well as the exchange of information between scientists and policy makers.
Luisa Cifarelli, the EPS President also published an opinion piece in Corriere della Serra on 25 October 2012 expressing surprise and concern over the verdict.
