Italian Court Charges Scientists for Manslaughter Over 2009 L’Aquila Earthquake

An Italian court has sentenced six Italian seismologists to six years in prison for manslaughter over the deadly 2009 earthquake in L’Aquila.

The decision is already unpopular in the scientific community, since seismologists say that it is impossible to determine when an earthquake will hit, or how big it will be when it does. Erik Klemetti, an assistant professor at Dennison University and a contributor for the blog Wired, tweeted, “I hope the Italians realize how backwards they are in this L’Aquila trial and its verdict. I know [it’s] not everyone, but terrible precedent.”

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