Thursday, 6 December 2012
2:30 p.m.
Who is responsible for human suffering inflicted by earthquakes? What advice should scientists
give and how should they communicate it when volcanoes erupt? What are the responsibilities
and perils for researchers who estimate earthquake risks? In the wake of an Italian court's
convictions in October of seven scientists and one government official of manslaughter for
allegedly mischaracterizing earthquake risk in the city of L'Aquila, natural-hazards experts are
rethinking their role in society and the dangers that go with it -- both for society and for
themselves. The 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck L'Aquila in April, 2009, killed more than
300 people.
Participants:
Thomas H. Jordan, Director, Southern California Earthquake Center, University of Southern
California, Los Angeles, California, USA;
Stephen Sparks, Professor, School of Earth Science, University of Bristol, United Kingdom;
Max Wyss, Director, World Agency for Planetary Monitoring and Earthquake Risk Reduction,
Geneva, Switzerland.
Sessions: U44B
