Question: Can nuclear experiments in the deserts cause earthquakes?

Asked by dogan8b to Andi on 9 Mar 2015.

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  1. Photo: Andreas RudersdorfAndreas Rudersdorf
    answered on 9 Mar 2015:

    Hi dogan8b!

    When nuclear experiments are done in a region where the stresses on a fault are very high and an earthquake was about to happen, the explosion could trigger the fault to move and the earthquake to happen instantaneously. No matter whether the experiments are in the desert or anywhere else. 🙂

    Did you know that seismologists can watch if a nuclear weapon is tested and used?

    Nuclear explosions (like any other explosion) everywhere on the Earth, also in the deserts, are seismic events. The ground shakes and seismic waves travel trough the earth. Seismometers record this shaking and scientists can determine wheter it was a “real” earthquake or a (nuclear) explosion. Even if they are on the other side of the globe!

    All the best,
    Andi

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