Scientists guilty of manslaughter

britexpat
By britexpat

This is a strange one..
We all know that weathermen get things wrong, but do they deserve to be prosecuted and sent to jail ? I don’t believe so..

Seven scientists and experts on trial for manslaughter linked to an earthquake in Italy that killed more than 300 people have been convicted and sentenced to six years in prison, a court has ruled.

The victims of the earthquake in L'Aquila have also been awarded between €40,000 to €450,000 ($52,000 to $584,000 Cdn), said freelance journalist Megan Williams.

Italian prosecutors say that the scientists gave inaccurate and incomplete information about whether smaller tremors before the April 2009 quake should have been grounds for an official warning.

The 6.9 magnitude earthquake left 309 people dead and injured more than 1,500 others.

Judge Marco Billi took slightly more than four hours to reach the verdict, the BBC reported.
http://www.cbc.ca/news/world/story/2012/10/22/italy-earthquake-scientist...

By Alostrael• 26 Oct 2012 11:23
Rating: 3/5
Alostrael

Consider it a price of progress

By wirehead• 23 Oct 2012 22:52
Rating: 2/5
wirehead

totally ridiculous. the judge is plain stupid. tremors happen everyday and most of them are minor, whether they are strong enough to be felt or not. no once can ever predict when an earthquake would come.

sometimes scientists report whenever there is some slight movement along a fault line, but among those i was aware of they never result to a major earthquake afterwards as far as i know.

the verdict may be understandable if it was a cyclone/storm/typhoon/volcanic eruption or some other natural calamity and they failed to do the proper warnings where technology to forecast are already available. earthquakes are an entirely different ball game

By FathimaH• 23 Oct 2012 22:16
FathimaH

Guess there is a first time for everything, sadly for the scientists in question. However I am with Nomerci on this as far as passing my own judgments go.Though I will definitely want to know the outcome of the case!

By anonymous• 23 Oct 2012 18:22
anonymous

I feel that, too.

By Knight Returns• 23 Oct 2012 18:14
Knight Returns

Many small tremors had been recorded by scientists at that place for quite some days in the past. Due to this continuous release of energy scientists inferred that a sudden burst of energy was improbable from the same epicenter. They had declared that there was no danger to life and property as the tremors would gradually get weaker with time.

Contrary to all experience and theory, there was a high magnitude tremor at the same place. The scientists didn't consider the possibility of other factors causing this tremor. They should have put a word of caution to the public in any case as they knew it was impossible to accurately predict each and every tremor.

They have two chances of appealing to higher courts and I feel the decision would be in their favour.

By TailChopper• 23 Oct 2012 10:32
TailChopper

delay in passing Technical information due negligence is a good point...good point nomerci! Could be a reason, but still cant be the only reason when it comes to quakes prediction...coz quakes are so unpredictable

By nomerci• 23 Oct 2012 10:25
nomerci

No idea...it depends on if they withheld information that could have warned people.

I have too little info to form an educated opinion.

By RADIUS• 23 Oct 2012 09:25
RADIUS

When attorney got mistakes the client went to jail, when Doctor got mistakes patient will go to cemetery. That is the attorney of the scientist mistakes. lol

By landloverreview• 23 Oct 2012 09:24
Rating: 2/5
landloverreview

I personally think that the situation of the whole department should be examined first..

Not Guilty - if their mistake was due to less/no availability of resources

Guilty - If they were careless at work

By Iamthexxx• 23 Oct 2012 09:17
Iamthexxx

ignore science at your own peril!

By anonymous• 23 Oct 2012 08:55
anonymous

Brit, it could lead to scientists keeping their mouth shut and watching the disaster from a safe place. If that's what the judge wants?

By britexpat• 23 Oct 2012 08:49
britexpat

I hope that they can appeal. Otherwise, it sets a dangerous perecedent..

By osamabawab• 23 Oct 2012 08:48
Rating: 4/5
osamabawab

not to mention some doctors doing mistakes during operation and patient dies & finally they will not be punished

By anonymous• 23 Oct 2012 08:40
Rating: 2/5
anonymous

The judge is an idiot. A scientist will ALWAYS give an error margin for his results! And even it is only 0.1% he did not say anything wrong.

By anonymous• 23 Oct 2012 08:37
Rating: 4/5
anonymous

Actually the guilty ones where those who extracted water for 40 years or so. That led to a shift of big masses of earth and caused the tremor. So, blame the people and their thirst for water!

By TailChopper• 23 Oct 2012 08:37
Rating: 2/5
TailChopper

I really dont agree, you can predict the plain of movement beneath earth but can never say for sure when the stored energy will be released, its always 50% accurate!

By osamabawab• 23 Oct 2012 08:36
osamabawab

weathermen are similar to share market experts, or let's say similar to zodiac scientists and they should not be blamed in my opinion

By MarcoNandoz-01• 23 Oct 2012 08:35
MarcoNandoz-01

It’s almost impossible to accurately, forecast/ predict an earthquake.

This is just silly!

By Khanan• 23 Oct 2012 08:34
Rating: 4/5
Khanan

its insane, to charge/punish human for wrongly predicting a natural calamity.

Though, Engineers and designers can be blamed for after-effect of that calamity. e.g. Poor drainage system ,sub-standard structural design in an earthquake prone area.

By Baburao-Ganpatrao-Apte• 23 Oct 2012 08:28
Baburao-Ganpatrao-Apte

britexpat if one can fake moon landing Scientists can be fake too , though not all of them :)

By osamabawab• 23 Oct 2012 08:26
osamabawab

it seems that someone asked who is to be blamed

http://www.qatarliving.com/node/5866966

By britexpat• 23 Oct 2012 08:26
britexpat

No..

But do you agree with this ?

Scientists work on probabilities and numbers - so how can they be prosecuted for getting things wrong ?

By Baburao-Ganpatrao-Apte• 23 Oct 2012 08:24
Baburao-Ganpatrao-Apte

were the Scientists American ?

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