New Zealand: Scientists look at how quake information explained
On the anniversary of the 22 February 2011 6.3 earthquake, scientists and journalists meet to discuss how the science behind it was communicated, reports Radio New Zealand. The director of the natural hazards section of GNS Science, Kelvin Berryman said the research institute "has learnt a few lessons from the earthquake, and if another disaster were to strike tomorrow, more effort would be put into making sure key messages were consistent."
Canterbury University lecturer in tectonics Mark Quigley, who was awarded the 2011 Prime Minister's Science Communicator Prize for his efforts in explaining the earthquakes, "knows he needs to be careful when describing the risk of further large quakes," while other assert that the media made scientists' jobs harder by giving airtime to people claiming they could predict earthquakes.