Italian earthquakes were predicted

Italian expert's warnings were dismissed as scaremongering:

Mr Giuliani told locals to evacuate their houses and posted a video on YouTube in which he said a build-up of radon gas around the seismically active area suggested a major earthquake was imminent.

Several tremors had been felt in the medieval city of L'Aquila, around 60 miles east of Rome, from mid-January onwards, and vans with loudspeakers had driven around the city spreading the warning.

But instead of heeding Mr Giuliani's warnings, the local authorities reported him to police for "spreading alarm" and he was told to remove his findings from the internet.

The predicted earthquake hit L'Aquila at 3.32am local time today, killing at least 90 people and leaving up to 50,000 homeless.

Twin fault lines leave Italy vulnerable

L'Aquila sits in a valley in the central Apennines north of Rome and is built on a basin of sediments which has attracted geological interest in the past.

It was hit by earthquakes repeatedly in its history including one in 1703 which flattened the centre.

In 2002, 30 people including 27 children were killed when an earthquake destroyed a school in the tiny medieval village of San Giuliano di Puglia in south central Italy.

L'Aquila is also on two different route 17s...

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