A trial started in Italy on Tuesday for seven scientists charged with manslaughter for apparently predicting that no major earthquake will hit L'Aquila one week after the deadly temblor struck the city in 2009.

A total of 309 people were killed, 1,500 others were injured while 65,000 people were displaced when the 6.3 magnitude earthquake hit the central Italian city on April 6.

Prosecutors said the scientists were liable for the deaths because they told resident six days before the temblor that months of rumblings or foreshocks felt in the city is unlikely to lead to a major earthquake. They are asking $66.7 million in damages for the victims' families.

In the same assessment made by the defendants on March 31, 2009, they did not rule out the possibility of an earthquake.

Some 5,000 scientists around the world have expressed their support for their colleagues on trial by signing a letter of support. Supporters included the American Geophysical Union and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

The defendants are expected to argue that an earthquake is impossible to predict.

Incidentally, an Italian laboratory technician, Giampaolo Giuliani, predicted the earthquake on Italian television one month before the incident. He based his prediction on the increased level of radon emitted from the ground. Authorities accused him of being alarmist and ordered him to take out his prediction posted online.