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This is sensationalist news at its finest. There is only one way to confirm that a nuclear bomb test has occurred and it is not by measuring 'resulting' earthq

This is sensationalist news at its finest. There is only one way to confirm that a nuclear bomb test has occurred and it is not by measuring 'resulting' earthquakes. Until either the US Gov't or the very top at the IAEA states there was a successful test, this is nothing but linkbait. Frankly, given the tensions right now between the North and South, and that it seems the North, with the Passing of Kim Jung Il, might be more willing to open up, I find this type of reporting and grandstanding for views really infuriating. /rant

cjensen 14y ago
An earthquake 1000m below the surface on Nuclear Test Road (not a joke: type the coordinates into Google Maps) which occurs after a week of nuclear test threats and has a slightly larger magnitude than the last North Korean test is unlikely to be a coincidence.
- guimarin 14y ago
  I'm positive that North Korea wants the world to believe that they're testing nuclear weapons, because that is their only bargaining card, but that doesn't mean they made a successful test.
  - cpleppert 14y ago
    Then what do you think caused the earthquake? They haven't been stockpiling tnt and faking a nuclear program at the same time.
  - nikatwork 14y ago
    NK stated they would perform a nuke test on this date and location. Which do you think is more likely, a) the tremors are from a nuke test b) Kim Jong performed a mystical ancient Korean wardance that happened to summon an earthquake at the designated time and place?
  - doktrin 14y ago
    If North Korea could trigger earthquakes at will, I think that would be even bigger news than a nuclear test (not to mention being a plot worthy of a James Bond movie).
ghshephard 14y ago
Seems like a little more than link bait: "South Korea and the US placed their forces in South Korea on alert in the wake of the rumoured blast as reports emerged that North Korea may have yesterday given the US and China advance warning of the test." Edit - From http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/world/asia/north-korea-nuclear-test.html?hp http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/world/asia/north-korea-nuc...: "Tibor Toth, executive secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO), said the seismic event's location was "roughly congruent with" nuclear tests carried out by North Korea in 2006 and 2009."
druiid 14y ago
Actually, that is incorrect. It's relatively easy to determine if an 'earthquake' is a natural occurrence or if it is from a test like this. http://seismo.berkeley.edu/blog/seismoblog.php/2009/05/25/of-nuclear-bombs-and-earthquakes http://seismo.berkeley.edu/blog/seismoblog.php/2009/05/25/of...
jandrewrogers 14y ago
Man-made explosions, both chemical and nuclear, have seismic signatures that are substantially different than natural sources and which have been measured countless times from US and Soviet testing. The earthquake sensor feeds are often scrubbed of non-earthquake sources; ever wonder how they do that? There is a possibility that it is a chemical explosion, if you are willing to swallow the idea that the North Koreans detonated several million kilos of military high explosives in a mine shaft somewhere. But even then, while the signature is closer to a nuclear explosion it is not identical. Maybe the seismic data from a variety of sources is damaged or defective but I'm not counting on it. Have you considered the possibility that you are the one over-reacting? Our ability to classify seismic motion is much more sophisticated than you seem to be assuming. It is the same reason they can tell whether an earthquake swarm in a particular spot is caused by local fault activity or the imminent emergence of a volcano -- the signature is different. There is a lot more to analyzing seismic activity than just the magnitude. It is also how we do subsurface imaging for mining oil. It is a mathematically sophisticated field, give it some respect.

cjensen 14y ago

An earthquake 1000m below the surface on Nuclear Test Road (not a joke: type the coordinates into Google Maps) which occurs after a week of nuclear test threats and has a slightly larger magnitude than the last North Korean test is unlikely to be a coincidence.

guimarin 14y ago
I'm positive that North Korea wants the world to believe that they're testing nuclear weapons, because that is their only bargaining card, but that doesn't mean they made a successful test.
- cpleppert 14y ago
  Then what do you think caused the earthquake? They haven't been stockpiling tnt and faking a nuclear program at the same time.
- nikatwork 14y ago
  NK stated they would perform a nuke test on this date and location. Which do you think is more likely, a) the tremors are from a nuke test b) Kim Jong performed a mystical ancient Korean wardance that happened to summon an earthquake at the designated time and place?
- doktrin 14y ago
  If North Korea could trigger earthquakes at will, I think that would be even bigger news than a nuclear test (not to mention being a plot worthy of a James Bond movie).

ghshephard 14y ago

Seems like a little more than link bait: "South Korea and the US placed their forces in South Korea on alert in the wake of the rumoured blast as reports emerged that North Korea may have yesterday given the US and China advance warning of the test." Edit - From http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/world/asia/north-korea-nuclear-test.html?hp http://www.nytimes.com/2013/02/12/world/asia/north-korea-nuc...: "Tibor Toth, executive secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organisation (CTBTO), said the seismic event's location was "roughly congruent with" nuclear tests carried out by North Korea in 2006 and 2009."

druiid 14y ago

Actually, that is incorrect. It's relatively easy to determine if an 'earthquake' is a natural occurrence or if it is from a test like this. http://seismo.berkeley.edu/blog/seismoblog.php/2009/05/25/of-nuclear-bombs-and-earthquakes http://seismo.berkeley.edu/blog/seismoblog.php/2009/05/25/of...

jandrewrogers 14y ago

Man-made explosions, both chemical and nuclear, have seismic signatures that are substantially different than natural sources and which have been measured countless times from US and Soviet testing. The earthquake sensor feeds are often scrubbed of non-earthquake sources; ever wonder how they do that? There is a possibility that it is a chemical explosion, if you are willing to swallow the idea that the North Koreans detonated several million kilos of military high explosives in a mine shaft somewhere. But even then, while the signature is closer to a nuclear explosion it is not identical. Maybe the seismic data from a variety of sources is damaged or defective but I'm not counting on it. Have you considered the possibility that you are the one over-reacting? Our ability to classify seismic motion is much more sophisticated than you seem to be assuming. It is the same reason they can tell whether an earthquake swarm in a particular spot is caused by local fault activity or the imminent emergence of a volcano -- the signature is different. There is a lot more to analyzing seismic activity than just the magnitude. It is also how we do subsurface imaging for mining oil. It is a mathematically sophisticated field, give it some respect.