North Korea's nuclear tests triggered 1,399 earthquakes: Earth is still shaking | Gravitas
&imwidth=600&imheight=450&format=webp&quality=medium "North Korea's nuclear tests triggered 1,399 earthquakes: Earth is still shaking | Gravitas")
Representative image. Photograph: (PickPik)
It is worth noting that the country's final nuclear nuclear test, with an explosive yield of 160 kilo tonnes, unleashed an earthquake of 6.3 magnitude, and is believed to have resulted in an on-site collapse of a tunnel.
Can nuclear testing result in an uncharacteristic rise in seismic activity and that too for the long term? While this theory has remained in the realm of speculation, a new study has thrown up a startling revelation in this regard. The study published in, the science journal by researchers from China and South Korea, analysed seismic recordings collected between 2008 and 2025.
They used wave forms of known earthquakes as templates to find much fainter events buried in background noise.
The study found that North Korea's six underground nuclear tests conducted from 2006 to 2017, at mount mantap were followed by close to 1,400 local earthquakes until 2025.
It is worth noting that the country's final nuclear nuclear test, with an explosive yield of 160 kilo tonnes, unleashed an earthquake of 6.3 magnitude, and is believed to have resulted in an on-site collapse of a tunnel.
While nuclear tests have long been known to cause small earthquakes, the effects are typically shortlived. Additionally, the area had been quiet tectonically, with earthquakes virtually unheard of.
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Then what explains the north Korean phenomenon?
According to the study, repeated explosions progressively damaged the earth's crust, and increased seismicity as at least two pre-existing intraplate faults became active.
According to some experts, nuclear tests may have fractured a large volume of rock creating new cracks. According to the study's authors, the discovery that underground nuclear tests can trigger intensified seismic activity could complicate long-term monitoring of nuclear test sites.
This manifested earlier this year, after at least 17 earthquakes struck near the highly classified. Area 51 in nevada within a period of 24 hours in late April.
As this was close to the nevada test site, where u.S. Conducted nuclear tests from 1951 until 1992. conspiracy theories about covert nuclear testing gained traction.