GaryK - 11:43 pm on Oct 22, 2012 (gmt 0)

There's an lively discussion about this on Slashdot — so long as you browse at +4 and above.

It seems to me these scientists and bureaucrats were playing politics with the science and that's what got them into trouble.

They'd have been better off to state what current scientific evidence seems to suggest, which is that there's no more or less chance of tremors leading to an earthquake, and that earthquakes as such cannot yet be reliably predicted.

Instead they minimized the risks and tried to shift the focus to building construction not being sufficient to withstand a moderate earthquake.

If they'd said there was a high likelihood of an earthquake happening I can't help but wonder what, if anything, would have been done to minimize the risks of injury and death. Would an evacuation have been ordered? I think not.