Sicily: Earthquakes, Science, Politics, and Law

This post is from the email blog of my professor, Dennis Cooper, about his 2 day site visit here in Trecastagni

Francesco Palmitessa awoke in his bed to the shaking of the earth and the collapsing of his house around him. His wife and daughter lay in bed beside him. When the terrible onslaught of falling walls and ceilings subsided, he discovered to that he was the only one left alive.

Three hundred and nine people died that morning in L'Aquila, Italy, in the 6.3 magnitude earthquake that struck in 2009, mainly from being crushed by collapsing buildings. A physician, Dr. Palmitessa and his family had evacuated his house the night before, because they feared that an earthquake was imminent. Civil defense authorities, however, tried to reassure townspeople that, despite the warnings issued by scientists and the tremors beneath their feet, the risk of an actual earthquake at that time and place was low. People were told to go into their homes, have a glass of wine, and sleep in their beds.

After the disaster, survivors like Dr. Palmitessa and, indeed, much of the public angrily demanded that those who failed to give adequate warning to victims be held responsible. Subsequently, charges were leveled, a trial was held, and on Monday, Oct. 22, the verdict was announced: seven Italian geologists and disaster experts were convicted of manslaughter and each sentenced to six years in prison.

On Tuesday morning, Oct. 23, I arrived in Catania, Sicily, and was met at the airport by my student, Erin Peterson, and her mentor, Dr. Boris Behncke. I did not know it yet, but I soon learned I had landed at the epicenter of the international headlines shaking the geological and scientific world in the wake of Monday's verdict. For Dr. Behncke is a geologist at the Catania branch of the INGV, the National Institute for Geology and Volcanoes in Italy. One of his colleagues was among the seven convicted scientists.

Dr. Behncke's job is to study and monitor the activity of Sicily's Mount Etna, one of the most active volcanoes in the world and one that has erupted many times in the past, claiming many victims from the well-populated slopes, valleys, and plains below, including the city of Catania and Trecastagni, where Boris and his wife Catherine live with their 7-year old daughter, Ida.

Dr. Boris Behncke, his wife Catherine, and his daughter, Ida

Ida and Erin playing tic-tac-toe, to the amusement of Catherine

Dr. Boris Behncke

Dr. Behncke greeted me cordially and bought me a coffee at the airport. He was obviously agitated and he came right to the point: I had arrived in the middle of a crisis at his institute, which he described to me in detail, including the story of Dr. Palmitessa (not his real name). He did not excuse the convicted scientists of downplaying the probability of the disaster, but he added that they had done so under pressure from political authorities and administrators who did not want to alarm the public of something that might not happen, or might not happen when and where it did. He agreed with my suggestion that the convicted scientists had been scapegoats.

We discussed the whole problem of prediction of natural disaster prediction, which is based on probabilities and risk, rather than certainties. The next time Mount Vesuvius of Pompeii fame erupts (and it will), geologists will know something is happening, but they won't know exactly when or where. What happens in the meantime - evacuate everyone from the Bay of Naples? When? To where? For how long? What if Vesuvius threatens to erupt for months? Hundreds of thousands of people will be temporarily housed elsewhere in Italy, in tents or camps, waiting, waiting?

And even if that all works out perfectly, and Vesuvius erupts on schedule and destroys Naples, what do people come back to? Rubble from houses that were not built to withstand coinciding earthquakes? Houses that were built in the possible path of erupted lava, rocks, gas, etc.?

The moral of the story is that prevention is much better than prediction. There is currently no good way to respond effectively to predictions of earthquakes and volcanoes. What we can do is prevent the consequences of these disasters from being so terrible. For example. we can build houses that are "quake-resistant". If Dr. Palmitessa's house had been built so, his wife and daughter might still be alive today. 

Incidentally, there is a column in the International Herald Tribune/New York Times today (Oct. 26) by Juliette Kayyem in which the significance of the convictions of the seven scientists is discussed. Interesting stuff, but I don't agree with much of what she writes. 

My student, Erin, is a majoring in Geology at UW-River Falls. She is spending two months studying volcanoes in Italy, including about one month with Dr. Behncke and his colleagues at the INGV. She is doing so in the Semester Abroad: Europe program (SAE) at UWRF. Although her subject is volcanoes, Erin is getting a much bigger and better education than she ever dreamed of. She is getting this education the only way possible - by being here (and doing a great job under the tutelage of her UWRF adviser, Dr. Ian Williams).

 

Erin and an INGV scientist checking gas emissions from Etna

Dennis Cooper, Erin, and an INGV scientist in Zafferana, Sicily

This is one example of the tremendous experiences students can have when living and studying abroad.

See you soon,

Dennis  

On the Island Vulcan...o

Uncle David, this one’s for you…

Captain’s log: Stardate: 66217.6. My position: approaching a mysterious island that appears to be releasing steam. I am beaming to the island’s surface. My mission: to explore this strange island, and discover the source of the steam.

The day was Monday, and I arrived at the port of Stromboli, around 10, hoping to catch the 11 o’clock boat to Vulcano. As I talked to the people within the ticket office, it became clear to me that this voyage would be difficult, once again. The boat had left early, due to high winds, if I understood the alien language. This meant that I would need to wait until around 3 for a boat to Vulcano. I proceeded to wait near the ticket office and fix the music playlists on my computer’s iTunes. I bought my ticket when the office opened, and went to the dock to wait. From that point on, the boat ride actually went as it was meant to, and so was surprisingly smooth. In passing near their systems, I saw many other strange and intriguing islands.

Europe: My current frontier. These are the voyages of the explorer: Erin. My three-month mission: to explore strange, new volcanoes, to seek out new knowledge and new wisdom, to boldly go where no UWRF student has gone before.

Captain’s log: Additional entry. Since my boat ride went smoothly, I beamed to the island without worry. I was totally unaware that I was about to run into more rough travels.

The location I was planning on residing for my four nights on this strange island, was booked through the website: airbnb.com, where I was told I would be staying in a guest home on Antonio’s property. He told me to call him when I got to the port, so I did. Upon doing so, one of those lovely little automated messages informed me that the customer I was trying to reach was not available. Mom called me in response to my frantic texts, and she emailed Antonio, telling him that I was waiting at the port and trying to reach him, but without success. I tried communication with him via text also, with no avail. Then I waited, trying to call again from time to time. After around an hour, I was beginning to feel fear again, especially since the place I was staying at was simply called “An Aeolian Villa”, so it definitely wasn’t a normal hotel…and I tried asking people if they had heard of it, or of Antonio, and no one had. So, I began wandering, and found a tourist office. I asked again if they knew of the person or place, and they didn’t…I was near tears, and the guy at the desk could tell. So he offered to let me use internet, and I took advantage of the offer. I looked up the phone number and resort page for myself, and saw the number on the screen…which had a + in front of it…Then it dawned on me, in this strange and foreign place, I was supposed to dial the +…so I tried calling Antonio again, and it worked. Of all the stupid things, I didn’t have the + in the number, and so couldn’t call. Gah!

Captain’s log: Continuing. After wandering the area I beamed to, it was clear to me that these beings speak only their own language, with very few of them understanding me when I speak to them.

Antonio called his uncle, Tanino, and instructed him to pick me up, as he, Antonio, was stuck on a different island. Tanino brought me to his home, and showed me the guest house that was reserved for my residence. In his foreign language, he instructed me that dinner was at 9, and I was to join him. During this meal, which consisted of strangely familiar pasta and tomato sauce, we had a conversation. How we managed to actually communicate with each other is unclear to me, as I could only understand a very little of his foreign language, and he could not understand mine. The only thing about that conversation that is clear to me is that we did successfully communicate. This man told me of his friend, who wrote a book about the minerals of Vulcano. I was very interested and excited to learn more, so he told me we’d go meet his friend that night. We left around 10 for the restaurant his friend owns, where I spent the entire time goggling at the book, like a silly little school girl. The book was entirely in Italian, other than mineral names in both Italian and English, at the back of the book. I also tried my first Italian coffee at this restaurant. I opted for decaffeinated, as adrenaline was already coursing through my veins, giving me enough energy to continue. Tanino also brought me to a bar, where he bought me a glass of liquor from the island.  This liquor was very smooth and very tasty. It was a new experience and a long night full of adventure. But it was time for me to retire until the sun rose again.

Captain’s log: Stardate 66223.3. My position: in the town at the sea port of the island Vulcano.

I spent the first two full days rejuvenating and trying to organize my plans, memories, and pictures and performing important maintenance tasks like cleaning clothes. On my third day on this foreign island, I finally explored more of this region. I found a pharmacy, where I bought bug spray (which was a true necessity in this land), the INGV office, which was inoperational, and I climbed to the source of the steam.  The source was more than 10 fumaroles, located on, next to, and inside of a large crater. On my first trip to this crater, I only did a little exploring and investigating, getting as close to the larger fumaroles as was allowed, and walking around the near side of the crater, before returning to home base. I also collected some samples on this trip, as I was fascinated by the mineral shapes, mostly botryoidal on a VERY small scale.

Captain's log: Stardate  66226.1. My position: atop the crater releasing all of the gas on the island of Vulcano.

I returned to the summit of this crater today, and spent much more time there, walking the entire perimeter of the crater. I was enthralled with the fumaroles and the rocks I saw, as I was unused to rocks with this texture. I got as close to the fumaroles as was allowed. It was fascinating to walk around the rim of the crater, though I wish I could have gone all the way up to the fumaroles. That would have been a much more educational experience for me, I think. However, there was a risk of asphyxiation, so I wasn't allowed farther. It was still an excellent experience for me, though.

Overall, this was a very exciting adventure, full of new experiences for me. But, my mission was complete. I had found the fumaroles: the source of the islands gas emissions. It was time for me to move to my next location to begin the next adventure.