On April 6, 2009, a magnitude 6.3 earthquake struck the central Italian city of L’Aquila, killing 308 people and destroying the homes of more than 28,000 residents.
Victims of other natural disasters share their fear and uncertainty, but two weeks ago, authorities in L’Aquila began an entirely different kind of disaster.
Six of the Italian seismologists and representatives responsible for studying and reporting seismic activity have been indicted for manslaughter due to their inability to predict the L’Aquila earthquake.
Whether people executing their noncriminal jobs in good faith should ever be accused of criminal acts is debatable, but “earthquake predictor” is a job that does not exist.
While scientists understand earthquakes are caused by the buildup of stress along fault lines between tectonic plates, no reliable earthquake prediction system has yet been developed. The best seismologists can currently do is provide the public with information of the seismic risk associated with different areas of the world.
The region surrounding L’Aquila is classified as a Category 1 seismic zone, the highest level where residents risk “high or catastrophic