閱讀難度：

Six Italian scientists and a former government official went on trial on manslaughter charges Tuesday for allegedly failing to give sufficient warning to residents before the devastating 2009 earthquake that killed more than 300 people in L'Aquilla, central Italy, AP reported.

The seven defendants are accused of giving "inexact, incomplete and contradictory information" about whether the smaller tremors felt by L'Aquila residents in the six months before the April 6, 2009 quake should have constituted grounds for a quake warning.

The plaintiffs are seeking some 50 million euros in damages.

The case is being closely watched by seismologists around the globe who insist it's impossible to predict earthquakes and that no major quake has ever been foretold. Last year, about 5,200 international researchers signed a petition supporting their Italian colleagues.

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意科學家誤斷地震受審

???????美聯社報道，周二，6名意大利科學家和1名前政府官員因殺人指控受審，因為據稱他們沒能在2009年大地震前有效地警告居民，那次地震在拉奎拉造成300余人死亡。

???????這7名被告被指控提供“不準確、不完整、相互矛盾的”信息，沒能說清2009年4月6日地震6個月前拉奎拉居民感受到的小震是否能構成地震警告的依據。

???????原告尋求約5000萬歐元的損失賠償。

???????該案備受全世界地震學家的關注，他們堅持認為地震無法預測，沒有一個大地震是預測到的。去年，約5200名國際研究人員簽署請愿書，支持意大利同行。

(China.org.cn September 23, 2011)