Analysis Reveals Multiple Aftershocks Followed North Korea’s 2017 Bomb Test
- 6 years ago
A recent analysis of aftershock reports revealed that North Korea’s 2017 nuclear bomb test triggered more tremors than previously known.
A recent analysis of aftershock reports revealed that North Korea's underground nuclear bomb test in September of last year triggered more tremors than previously known. A press release issued by the Earth Institute At Columbia University notes that "the explosion itself produced a magnitude 6.3 earthquake. This was followed 8.5 minutes later by a magnitude 4 quake, apparently created when an area above the test site on the country's Mt. Mantap collapsed into an underground cavity occupied by the bomb." Not long after, evidence of ten aftershocks was found. Scientists with Columbia University have revealed that in the time since, they've found three additional and previously unreported events.
The discovery was made through a new method "that looks at energy waves that are much lower frequency and slower-moving seismic than those used in conventional earthquake analyses. These slow-moving waves allowed…the team to pinpoint the locations of the quakes with far greater precision than with conventional recordings." Paul Richards, one of the researchers, noted the ability to pinpoint "the exact location of tiny quakes could also help in the so far largely fruitless quest by some seismologists to predict bigger quakes."
A recent analysis of aftershock reports revealed that North Korea's underground nuclear bomb test in September of last year triggered more tremors than previously known. A press release issued by the Earth Institute At Columbia University notes that "the explosion itself produced a magnitude 6.3 earthquake. This was followed 8.5 minutes later by a magnitude 4 quake, apparently created when an area above the test site on the country's Mt. Mantap collapsed into an underground cavity occupied by the bomb." Not long after, evidence of ten aftershocks was found. Scientists with Columbia University have revealed that in the time since, they've found three additional and previously unreported events.
The discovery was made through a new method "that looks at energy waves that are much lower frequency and slower-moving seismic than those used in conventional earthquake analyses. These slow-moving waves allowed…the team to pinpoint the locations of the quakes with far greater precision than with conventional recordings." Paul Richards, one of the researchers, noted the ability to pinpoint "the exact location of tiny quakes could also help in the so far largely fruitless quest by some seismologists to predict bigger quakes."