There was no possibility of forecasting the quake which hit L'Aquila on Monday, killing at least 92 people, Civil Protection chief Guido Bertolaso told a news conference.
Bertolaso, who is leading the huge rescue operation in the central Italian city, said experts who gathered here last week had ''no technical or scientific elements which could have led them to forecast this sort of quake,'' from a series of minor jolts which had hit the area recently.
''The only thing which could have been done and which was done was to set up the (rescue) system''.
Former civil protection chief, Franco Barberi, told ANSA that there was no way ''of forecasting this or any other quake''.
Barberi was one of the experts who took part in a meeting in L'Aquila on March 31 following the quakes which shook the area over the last weeks.
''We concentrated our efforts on outlining a list of recommendations, including preventive measures, planning what needs to be done when the emergency arises and shoring up old and unsafe buildings,'' he added.
''What's important in a similar emergency is setting up an efficient relief effort and this seems to be taking place right now''.
