Earthquakes and Volcanoes - I Feel the Earth Move Under My Feet

[Andrew49]

Madness knows no bounds!

6 seismologists and 1 government official have been charged with manslaughter for underestimating risks prior to the 2009 earthquake, which killed 309 people in the medieval town of L'Aquila. They will learn their fates when verdicts are handed down by a court later today.

According to the charges


The seven defendants are Enzo Boschi, who at the time was the head of Italy's national geophysics institute; Giulio Selvaggio, head of the INVV's national earthquake centre in Rome; and Franco Barberi of Rome's University
Three, Mauro Dolce, head of the Civil Protection's seismic risk office, Gian Michele Calvi, head of the European Centre for Training and Research in Earthquake Engineering (EUcentre); and Claudio Eva of the University of Genoa.

As well as being charged with manslaughter, the seven also face charges of reckless endangerment.

When it was pointed out during the trial that this trial should maybe be about non-compliance with existing building regulations (many houses collapsed during the 6.3 quake), the resulting silence and inaction was rather deafening...

An Italian court has convicted six scientists and a government official of manslaughter for failing to give adequate warning of a deadly earthquake which destroyed the central city of L'Aquila and killed more than 300 people in 2009.

[Ephilant]

It gives a complete new meaning to government cutbacks. One way of ensuring not too many scientists will want to work for the Italian institute...

[Andrew49]

Icelandic authorities warned people in the north of the island on Thursday to prepare for a possible big earthquake after the biggest tremors in the area for 20 years. The Civil Protection Department said in a statement that recent small quakes in an area under the sea about 20 km (12 miles) off the north of Iceland had prompted it to issue a warning to local people.

LINK

[fluffybiscuits]

Icelandic authorities warned people in the north of the island on Thursday to prepare for a possible big earthquake after the biggest tremors in the area for 20 years. The Civil Protection Department said in a statement that recent small quakes in an area under the sea about 20 km (12 miles) off the north of Iceland had prompted it to issue a warning to local people.

LINK

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Akureyri

Town of Akureyri has a population of 17k and is in need of an emergency plan. Only mild shocks so far but its a sign of something bigger.

[Dr. FIVE]

Earthquake off Canada's Pacific coast, tsunami warning gone out

[Captain Con O'Sullivan]

There is a bit more to that Italian scientist story than meets the eye. Apparently they did have information like the Icelandic warning there and there is a law in Italy that states the warnings must be published.

I believe the scientists and some civil servants involved decided not to publish the warnings from the data as they are statutorily obliged to do and people were killed who might otherwise have survived if the procedures had been followed.

Hence the convictions. This has deliberately been misrepresented in the way many news organisations have chosen to cover the story for some reason. Dramatic headlines, probably.

[Captain Con O'Sullivan]

It occurs to me that in that region (off the back of a personal dislike of such people) that if one was going to jail a scientist for not 'foreseeing' a natural disaster then you'd also have to jail all the local priests because they had failed to intercede with god in order to prevent the earthquake

Which would be interesting.

[Ogiol]

Sad to see the irish media in its anglocentric buble didnt pick up on the recent earthqauake in Guatemala.

Death toll rising to 100 now it seams. Poor guatemaltecans, my sympathy goes out to them.

[fluffybiscuits]

Sad to see the irish media in its anglocentric buble didnt pick up on the recent earthqauake in Guatemala.

Death toll rising to 100 now it seams. Poor guatemaltecans, my sympathy goes out to them.

+1

Hope things recover...

[Ephilant]

It occurs to me that in that region (off the back of a personal dislike of such people) that if one was going to jail a scientist for not 'foreseeing' a natural disaster then you'd also have to jail all the local priests because they had failed to intercede with god in order to prevent the earthquake

Which would be interesting.

And all economists for not seeing a recession coming, and all bankers for not seeing a robbery coming (mind you, they are the biggest robbers so they would have to report themselves), and ministers for not seeing the effects of their insane decisions, and...
This is why the world is an open air assylum, managed by the inmates.

[disability student]

And all economists for not seeing a recession coming, and all bankers for not seeing a robbery coming (mind you, they are the biggest robbers so they would have to report themselves), and ministers for not seeing the effects of their insane decisions, and...
This is why the world is an open air assylum, managed by the inmates.

Very good point there as they are still walking free

[Ephilant]

First shaker of the year just after hitting this morning. No injuries or deaths. No reports of damage either. 4.1R, just a gentle reminder that it can always happen, at any time. I just wished it stopped doing it at those ungodly times early in the morning...

[Ephilant]

Second one just after hitting. Not us this time, furhter East. A 5.8R hit in the Aegean, just south of the isle of Limnos, but was felt as far away as Athens. It's a friend in Athens who just told me. No reports of casualties or damage so far...

[DCon]

quake in Japan

Reuters India ‏@ReutersIndia

USGS says quake in Hokkaido, Japan, was on land and a magnitude 6.9

[fluffybiscuits]

http://www.wespeaknews.com/world/fiv...ds-141178.html

Richter Scale 8.0 hits Solomon Islands.

Five people dead.

Tsunami warning issued