Dozens of quakes hit Italy, but none so far in Rome despite rumoured prediction

[Guest guest]

http://ca.news.yahoo.com/italy-goes-enormous-lengths-debunk-legend-predicting-ma\

ssive-180557251.html

Dozens of quakes hit Italy, but none so far in Rome despite rumoured prediction

By Winfield, The Associated Press | The Canadian Press – 20 minutes ago

ROME - More than 22 earthquakes struck Italy by noon on Wednesday, as is normal

for the quake-prone country. But none was the devastating temblor purportedly

predicted by a now-dead scientist to strike Rome.

Despite efforts by seismologists to debunk the myth of a major Roman quake on

May 11, 2011 and stress that quakes can never be predicted, some Romans left

town just in case, spurred by rumour-fueled fears that ignore science.

Many storefronts were shuttered, for example, in a neighbourhood of

Chinese-owned shops near Rome's central train station. And an agriculture farm

lobby group said a survey of farm-hotels outside the capital indicated some

superstitious Romans had headed to the countryside for the day.

The fears are all thanks to a purported prediction of a major Roman quake

Wednesday attributed to self-taught seismologist Raffaele Bendandi, who died in

1979. However, Paola Lagorio, president of the association in charge of

Bendandi's documentation, says there's no evidence Bendandi ever made such a

precise prediction.

Adam Burgess, a senior lecturer in sociology at the University of Kent said

rumours like these tend to occur in " information vacuums, " such as during war

when there are situations of uncertainty. In this case, he suggested, the viral

rumour-mongering about a Roman quake may reflect a lack of trust Italians feel

toward their government.

" In the Italian context this might be exacerbated by the more typical experience

of the Italian state where even laws and legislation that are passed will often

mean very little in practice, " he said. In such cases, even efforts by the

government to put out correct, timely information can backfire.

Italian officials have taken extraordinary measures to try to calm nerves and

debunk the myth.

The country's Civil Protection department posted a dense information packet on

its website stressing that quakes can't be predicted and that Rome isn't

particularly at risk. Toll-free numbers were set aside at city hall to field

questions. And the national geophysics institute opened its doors to the public

to inform the curious and the concerned about seismology.

Alberto Michelini, a researcher at the institute, couldn't even get into the

seismology room to check how many quakes had been registered Wednesday because

it was so full of student groups and others visiting for the day.

Instead, he pulled the information up on his iPhone: 22 quakes before noon, the

strongest a sequence of three quakes early Wednesday around Mt. Etna in Sicily

registering magnitudes of 2.6, 2.9 and 3.1.

" We tried to take advantage of this moment of fear and psychosis to try to

explain what we do, " Michelini said.

That includes stressing that no one can scientifically predict an earthquake,

but that preventative measures can be taken, such as constructing buildings in

quake-prone areas according to anti-seismic norms.

" Maybe we should thank Bendandi and all this psychosis because we can take

advantage of it to talk about earthquakes, " he said. " Normally it's too

difficult to speak about them because you only hear about them after they

happen. "

___

Meera Selva contributed from London.