Seismologist Gioacchino Giuliani Predicted Deadly Earthquake Would Strike L'Aquila, Weeks Before Monday's Quake, Muzzled by Authorities

Resident Maria Francesco told AFP: "It was the apocalypse, our house collapsed. It's destroyed, and there's nothing left to recover." The devastation in the wake of an earthquake that struck L'Aquila, Italy, is heartbreaking and horrific. What I find interesting, however, is how easily warnings are shrugged off by the relevant authorities. There were dire warnings about terrorist attacks prior to September 11, 2001, but they were shrugged off. Then the same people are shocked beyond words when the warnings materialize.

Seismologist Gioacchino Giuliani had predicted that a deadly earthquake would strike L'Aquila, Italy, weeks before Monday's quake, but was muzzled by officials, Reuters reported. He was reportedly forced to take his findings off the Internet and was reported to police for "spreading alarm," according to Reuters. Last month, vans with loudspeakers reportedly drove around L'Aquila telling residents to evacuate their houses.

According to Reuters, Giuliani based his prediction on the levels of radon gas around seismically active areas. But the head of the National Geophysics Institute downplayed Giuliani's prediction. "Every time there is an earthquake there are people who claim to have predicted it," Enzo Boshci told Reuters. "As far as I know nobody predicted this earthquake with precision. It is not possible to predict earthquakes." Source: Reuters

I don't know if he could have prevented the devastation, but more lives could have quite possibly been saved if they had heeded his warnings, instead of muzzling him. We have seen this very mindset being played over in our society repeatedly. My thoughts and prayers go out to the victims and their families. I have experienced two tremors -- one in New York City in the late 1980s and one in Jamaica during the late 1970s and that was a scary thing. I can well imagine how these people must feel. I hope Silvio Berlusconi won't put his foot in his mouth during this tragedy. The last thing Italy needs is drama from him. Isn't it ironic that this 6.3-magnitude quake struck 60 miles north-east of Rome and during Holy Week?