| Some comments and KLIPSPRINGER seismicity predictions relevant to Italy can be found at |
| The April 6, 2009 earthquake in central Italy caused damage to thousands of buildings in the medieval city of L'Aquila. We cannot locate a precise count - or even counts that agree to the nearest thousand buildings. 308 people were killed by the earthquake: 6 Macedonians, 2 Czechs, 5 Romanians, 2 Palestinians, 1 Greek, 1 French, 2 Ukrainians, 1 Peruvian, 1 Argentine and 1 Israeli citizen. About 1,500 people were injured, and more than 65,000 people were made homeless. We note that the funeral Mass was led by the Vatican's second highest official, Cardinal Tarcisio Bertone. We deem it significant that The Vatican granted a special dispensation to hold a Mass on Good Friday, the only day on the Roman Catholic calendar on which Mass is not normally held. As we mentioned, Italian laboratory technician Giampaolo Giuliani used radon gas emissions to predict a major earthquake on Italian television in March 2009. He was criticized by the Director of the Civil Defence, Guido Bertolaso, was forced to take down Internet pages, and had to report to the police. More than 5,000 professional seismologists signed a letter (http://www.mi.ingv. it/open_letter/archive.php) protesting the indictment of the scientists on the Commissione Grandi Rischi (Commission for High Risks), and civil protection officials for manslaughter. The basis for the indictment is that no short-term alarm was given to the population after a meeting of the Commission held in L’Aquila six days before the earthquake. Being somewhat reluctant to sign after Daniel Bernoulli, we'll just say that we consider the indictment absurd. |
| Chronology Click here |