Problems on forecasting earthquakes and volcanic eruption
Scope
Italian government's Civil Protection Agency made no effective warning about the 2009 L'Aquila earthquake, which killed more than 300 people, and it has been blamed by citizens. In June,2010 the L'Aquila public prosecutor's office named several scientists as being investigated for manslaughter in relation to the earthquake because the scientists advised the Civil Protection Agency. This is caused by the large gap between scientific ability for forecasting and forecasting expected from citizens. The similar situations have been repeatedly experienced in Japan, where earthquakes and volcanic eruptions frequently occur. However, we have not been making systematic efforts to fill the gap. In this session, we would like to have fruitful discussions to fill the gap. We are expecting the presentations from not only seismologists and volcanologists but also researchers of the other natural hazards, journalists and people related to civil protection.
Convener
Co-Convener
Koshun Yamaoka, Eisuke Fujita, Kazuyuki Nakagawa