http://www.dw.de/laquila-sentence-science-on-trial/a-16326004 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20039769 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-20025626 ↓ In the closing statement, the prosecution quoted one of its witnesses, whose father died in the earthquake. It described how Guido Fioravanti had called his mother at about 11:00 on the night of the earthquake - straight after the first tremor. "I remember the fear in her voice. On other occasions they would have fled but that night, with my father, they repeated to themselves what the risk commission had said. And they stayed." „If the scientific community is to be penalised for making predictions that turn out to be incorrect, or for not accurately predicting an event that subsequently occurs, then scientific endeavour will be restricted to certainties only and the benefits that are associated with findings from medicine to physics will be stalled." http://www.wired.com/wiredscience/2012/10/the-verdict-of-the-laquila-earthquake-trial-sends-the-wro ng-message/ ↓ This is somewhat misleading as the prosecution was actually claiming the seven on trial were accused of “having carried out a superficial analysis of seismic risk and of having provided false reassurances to the public.” http://www.nature.com/news/shock-and-law-1.11643 http://www.nytimes.com/2011/10/04/science/04quake.html?_r=0 ↓ At the meeting, the seismologists noted that it was possible, though unlikely, that the seismic activity could be a sign that a larger quake was imminent. They also noted that there was always some risk in L’Aquila, which has a history of earthquakes. But in a news conference afterward, the message to the public became garbled, with the government official assuring that there was no danger. http://all-geo.org/highlyallochthonous/2011/06/if-youre-waiting-for-an-earthquake-warning-youre-doi ng-it-wrong/ http://www.nature.com/news/italian-court-finds-seismologists-guilty-of-manslaughter-1.11640