This morning's headlines are filled with the misery of deaths and injuries in central Italy from a 6.3 earthquake. Turns out some of that misery could have been avoided. A seismologist had predicted the earthquake weeks before it happened, but Italian police silenced him, preventing people from making appropriate preparations.
The seismologist had done the right thing: 1) make the prediction, and 2) put it on the Internet for maximum exposure. Too bad the Italian police, government and laws were not willing to accommodate and respond to such a dire warning. Rather than thanking the man and spreading the message, they made him remove the warning from the Internet! They considered it "spreading alarm." Should it be a crime for a seismologist to do his job -- to make a prediction and then tell people about it? The whole intent of the warning was indeed to spread alarm, so everyone could prepare! Guess freedom of speech does not exist in Italy, nor concern for the welfare of the people, not to mention respect for seismologists.
This could be seen as a case of science and technology outpacing the law -- where there is now the ability and the means to make such a prediction and spread the news, yet the laws do not yet allow for the warning. It could also be seen as an example of the age-old scenario of the powers-that-be attacking the messenger rather than dealing with the truth that is in the message.
From a story on MSNBC.com:
Weeks before the disaster, an Italian scientist had predicted a major quake around L'Aquila, based on concentrations of radon gas around seismically active areas.
Seismologist Gioacchino Giuliani was reported to police for "spreading alarm" and was forced to remove his findings from the Internet.
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