Science:
Seven scientists and technicians are on trial in Italy for
allegedly failing to properly assess seismic risks before the
April 2009 earthquake that devastated the central Italian town
of L'Aquila. One of the witnesses called this week is Christian
Del Pinto, an Italian geophysicist who attended a meeting held
by those experts the week before the deadly quake. He testified
to having doubts about the scientific basis of some of the
statements made during that meeting. Although the prosecution
isn't contending that the experts should have been able to
predict the location or severity of a quake, it does argue that
the experts’ risk evaluation was "generic and
ineffective." Del Pinto took issue with the experts' assertion
that there is little chance of a sudden increase in the
magnitude of tremors within a swarm. On 30 March such an
increase did occur, according to Del Pinto, and therefore it
was wrong to rule out further sudden increases in magnitude. He
also stated that he was troubled by the experts' description of
the swarm of tremors as an unremarkable phenomenon. The trial
will resume on 12 January 2012.
