# Italian scientists are criminally liable for failing to predict an earthquake.

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-scientists-are-criminally-liable-for-failing-to-predict-an-earthquake/638633>\
**Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\
**Created:** [October 23, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-scientists-are-criminally-liable-for-failing-to-predict-an-earthquake/638633 "2012-10-23T16:41:13Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 4\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Diceman](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/22d042/32.png) [@Diceman](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Diceman)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 4:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-scientists-are-criminally-liable-for-failing-to-predict-an-earthquake/638633/1 "2012-10-23T16:41:13Z")

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Has anybody else heard [this story?](http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/10/22/italian-court-convicts-7-scientists-for-failing-to-predict-earthquake/) It boggles my mind. Doesn’t everyone on earth, very nearly without exception, know that you can’t predict earthquakes? Are there extenuating circumstances that make sense of this ruling, or is it really as breathtakingly stupid as it appears to be?

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**Author:** ![Hari\_Seldon](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hari_seldon/32/5173_2.png) [@Hari\_Seldon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Hari_Seldon)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 5:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-scientists-are-criminally-liable-for-failing-to-predict-an-earthquake/638633/2 "2012-10-23T17:27:24Z")

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The worst thing is that one can see that had they predicted an earthquake that didn’t come, they might have been charged with causing a panic. This should cause every Italian seismologist to find another profession ASAP.

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**Author:** ![Machine\_Elf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/82dd89/32.png) [@Machine\_Elf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Machine_Elf)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 5:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-scientists-are-criminally-liable-for-failing-to-predict-an-earthquake/638633/3 "2012-10-23T17:37:35Z")

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> [@Diceman](#):
>
> Has anybody else heard [this story?](http://www.foxnews.com/science/2012/10/22/italian-court-convicts-7-scientists-for-failing-to-predict-earthquake/)

Only people who have been to The Pit in the past two days. (there’s an active thread there…)

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**Author:** ![davidm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/davidm/32/225_2.png) [@davidm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/davidm)\
**Post date:** [October 23, 2012, 5:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/italian-scientists-are-criminally-liable-for-failing-to-predict-an-earthquake/638633/4 "2012-10-23T17:39:51Z")

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This could have a chilling effect on certain scientific disciplines. Do you announce a possible disaster and risk getting sued if it turns out worse than you suspected, or being accused of causing a panic if it isn’t so bad? Do you instead keep mum and risk getting sued for not warning people?

Hopefully this will be appealed and overturned.