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"earthquakes in north korea"
- kevinconroy 14y ago"Detected" or "indexed"?
- derekerdmann 14y agoThis is public data from the USGS and numerous other sources. Why is it surprising that Wolfram Alpha is using it?
- speeder 14y agoSo what?
- Yoni1 14y agoHow would one know this is a nuke? Earthquakes happen.
- nwh 14y agoIt was pre-anounced.
- dutchbrit 14y agoNukes have completely different fingerprints than earthquakes. An example: http://quakesos.sosearthquakesvz.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/02/Screen-Shot-2013-02-12-at-10.09.11.jpg http://quakesos.sosearthquakesvz.netdna-cdn.com/wp-content/u...
- danielweber 14y agoMy old geology teacher said that the test-ban-treaty was a huge boon to geologists, since there was now a bottomless pit of money to be used to build seismographs anywhere you wanted to build them.
- brownbat 14y agoThe USGS compiles seismic hazard maps based on historical data for this very purpose: http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/neic_c000f5t0_w.html http://neic.usgs.gov/neis/bulletin/neic_c000f5t0_w.html
- kaybe 14y agoThe idea is basically this: An exploding buried nuke will send energy in all directions, thus the first movement of the ground is away from the epicenter for all measurement stations around. An earthquake usually comes about because tension between different areas release, and in that case one part of the ground will start their movement away from the epicenter, the other part will start into the direction of the epicenter. However, one might need measurement stations covering the whole globe to detect it this way. edit: Hm, I can't find the image that I've seen in a plate tectonics book a year ago, but here's a plot from a model: http://www.wlandry.net/Projects/Gamra http://www.wlandry.net/Projects/Gamra If you look at the arrows in light blue, you can see that some point into the direction of the epicenter while some point away, thus it's an earthquake and not a nuke.
- arethuza 14y agoThey have made an official announcement of the test: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21421841 http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-21421841
- filvdg 14y agoI checked "earthquakes in the Netherlands" : nothing there Google news has the one of 8 feb https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws&q=earthquake+in+the+netherlands https://www.google.com/search?hl=en&gl=us&tbm=nws...
- gus_massa 14y agoThat earthquake was smaller, from: http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-09/gas-rich-groningen-province-in-netherlands-hit-by-new-earthquake.html http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-02-09/gas-rich-groningen-... > A quake measuring 2.7 on the Richter scale struck the area ... To see it in Wolfram Alpha you need to add more parameters: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=earthquakes+in+Netherlands+with+magnitude+%3E+2 http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=earthquakes+in+Netherla...
- jonsherrard 14y agoIf you put the coordinates into Google maps you get this address: http://goo.gl/maps/TNfuD http://goo.gl/maps/TNfuD
- dutchbrit 14y agoShame that there's no street view... C'mon Google!!!
- newbie12 14y agoGulag view -- they should smuggle cameras in!
- brownbat 14y agoZoom out a bit and you can see the "Hwasong Gulag." https://plus.google.com/101019651244056999126/about?gl=us&hl=en https://plus.google.com/101019651244056999126/about?gl=us... The reviews are, well, you know. Welcome to the internet.
- mapleoin 14y agoSo it looks like they're bombing their own nuclear facility.
- phevia 14y agoTests are typically conducted in vertical shafts, according to the Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty (CTBTO). Holes are cut 1 to 3 meters wide and up to a kilometer deep. The atomic devices are assembled on site and placed in the hole, usually accompanied by lead-protected diagnostic canister that contains sensors to record the explosion. The tunnel is then filled with layers of pea gravel, sand and other materials to prevent radioactive material from being released into the atmosphere. During a test, the explosion energy is released in less than a millionth of a second, according to CTBTO. The temperature will reach about a million degrees within a few microseconds, and shockwaves from the blast, depending on the size, can be detected by seismographs around the planet. (From time.com)
- killermonkeys 14y ago"Earthquakes North Korea" != "nuclear tests North Korea" any more than "fire San Francisco" == "temperature San francisco"
- cpleppert 14y agoExcept when the seismic signature doesn't look like a natural earthquake.
- neya 14y agoAs you keep zooming out[1] of the location of this nuke, till you see atleast a whole portion of the earth, you will realize that the existence of this nuke (or the concept of where/how it will be used) is unnecessary. [1]http://goo.gl/maps/TNfuD http://goo.gl/maps/TNfuD (Thanks to HN user jonsherrard for the link)
- crusso 14y agoThe nuke in question was already used. What's your point?
- benologist 14y agoI like how they hid it on Nuclear Test Road.
- cantankerous 14y agoI think the name of that road could be user supplied data to Google through that collaborative mapping effort in North Korea. I could be wrong, though.
- deleted 14y ago[deleted]
- jpswade 14y agoIt just says earthquake here (UK), no mention of nuke.
- supercoder 14y agoWolfram Alpha can't be trusted then.
- dylangs1030 14y agoI read the comments, but could someone more expert in seismic activity break this down for me? How does this demonstrate Wolfram Alpha knew about the nuke itself (or could ascertain there might have been a nuke)? It looks like it just indexed seismic activity. Is it because the measurements are peculiar?
- Mordor 14y agoI for one welcome our Korean overlords, although I'm not sure who will be providing food aid in paradise?
- bcl 14y agoMisleading title http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usc000f5t0#summary http://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/usc000f5t0#...
- bluetidepro 14y agohttp://techcrunch.com/2013/02/11/how-the-nuke-from-n-koreas-test-could-damage-sf-via-google-maps/ http://techcrunch.com/2013/02/11/how-the-nuke-from-n-koreas-... > "After measuring a 4.9 magnitude seismic event tonight, South Korea’s defence ministry confirmed that it was caused by an underground nuclear test. North Korea’s nuclear capability is estimated to be about 2 kilotons." I'm not sure if this source is confirmed or not, but very interesting...
- jsherry 14y agoFor point of reference, Little Boy (the bomb dropped on Hiroshima) was 16 kilotons and 90k+ people. I'm sure there are a ton of other factors besides kilotons that determine how destructive the bomb is, but it's a data point to understand the potential magnitude. Source: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Boy http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Little_Boy
- mkoryak 14y agoTerrain has a bigger impact on how destructive a bomb is. Fat Man was 21 kilotons and 'only' killed ~40k people.
- cpleppert 14y agoThis is their third nuclear test and every single one has failed to cross the eight kiloton boundary at least. If this one is a plutonium weapon like the others it suggests that they are having major issues designing or fabricating the implosion lens around the nuclear material. It is quite striking that they keep conducting tests and reducing their usable nuclear stockpile further. It is almost like they don't have the capability to get a reliable warhead.
- mhb 14y agoNothing for "nuclear tests in north korea" about the recent test.
- cgosnell 14y agoIts also interesting that an 'earthquake' also happened on the same spot in 2009 and 2003 as well...
- dantillberg 14y agoYet wolfram alpha isn't quite smart enough to tell that this wasn't really an earthquake but a nuclear test: http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=nuclear+tests+in+north+korea http://www.wolframalpha.com/input/?i=nuclear+tests+in+north+...