I've been arguing that with another set of people.. Even if this guy did see something coming, given it didn't happen till a month later, would people still be living in their backyards in tents? (given there was anywhere to set up a safe area) -

And they certainly couldn't have gotten all their buildings retro-fitted in time to prevent disaster.. what would you have the people do? Leave town? And when nothing happened the first week, they'd all be back.. We'll really never know.. Maybe some did leave town or sleep outside - it would be interesting to hear interviews with people who heard him and what they thought and what, if any, precautions they might have taken.

I can just see the mindset - these buildings have been here for hundreds of years - survived hundreds of quakes (Italy is quite active) -

I fall back on the saying, It's not earthquakes that kill people, it's the buildings (or things falling) - this just goes to show how important earthquake building codes can be..

Canie