On Tuesday, several Russian seismologists expressed their regrets for seven Italians who had been convicted of manslaughter for failing to warn residents before an earthquake hit central Italy in 2009.

      Over 300 people were killed in the quake. The court in L'Aquila on Monday sentenced the defendants, six scientists and an ex-official, to six years each in prison for making wrong forecasts.

      Alexei Zavyalov, head of a seismology laboratory at the Russian Academy of Sciences Institute of Physics of the Earth, condemned the Italian court for throwing meteorology science to medieval times.

      “We are unable to say exactly whether or not there will be an earthquake. The current level of development does not allow us to make an absolutely accurate forecast," he added.

      His point of view is supported by Leonid Starkov, a leading expert at the Fobos Center, who is agreed there is always an element of inaccuracy in any forecast.