Tumbling to the ground

Scientist was told to remove Internet prediction of Italy earthquake: Researcher forecast L'Aquila tragedy on emissions of radon gas coming from the ground

An Italian scientist, Giampaolo Giuliani, was labelled an alarmist and ordered to take down warnings of a major earthquake to hit on March 29th. His timing was a little off (although I read there was a smaller tremor that day), but he seems to have predicted the L'Aquila earthquake, which killed at least 150 people, injured at least 1,500, and left more than 50,000 people homeless.

In addition to the human toll, the cultural damage may devastating as well:

Historic churches, Roman baths hit by quake: Pope Celestine V was crowned in one damaged basilica — in 1294

Italy quake destroys medieval buildings

At this point there is a desperate search and rescue attempt going on as crews try to uncover survivors in levelled buildings. One site is a dormitory where students are said to be trapped. The quake hit at 3:30 am local time, giving citizens little chance to take cover. Here's a video from ITN:



My thoughts are with those affected by this terrible disaster.