Italian Scientist gagged over quake warning.

[Mr Crowley]

An Italian scientist was reported to authorities for spreading panic after he warned a major quake would strike L'Aquila, it has emerged.

Weeks before disaster struck the city and killed more than 90 people, seismologist Giacchino Giuliani had warned of an impending disaster - but his forecast was dismissed by the government which said it had no scientific foundation.

Tremors were first felt in the region in mid-January and continued at regular intervals, creating mounting alarm in the medieval city.

A month ago, vans with loudspeakers drove around the town telling locals to evacuate their houses after Mr Giuliani, from the National Institute of Astrophysics, predicted a large quake was on the way.

However, this reportedly infuriated the local mayor. Mr Giuliani, who based his forecast on concentrations of radon gas around seismically active areas, was reported to police for "spreading alarm". He was also forced to remove his findings from the web.

Earlier, a defensive Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi gave a news conference on the quake and dodged questions about the whether his government had properly safeguarded the population in light of Mr Giuliani's warning.

Mr Berlusconi said now was the time to concentrate on relief efforts and "we can discuss afterwards about the predictability of earthquakes".
Scientist gagged over quake warning - Yahoo! News UK
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This is a shocking example of administrative incompetence and really should result in prosecutions.

[5intheface]

This is a shocking example of administrative incompetence and really should result in prosecutions.

Yip, but they'll probably find some excuse to prosecute Professor Giuliani.