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'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

theaustralian.com.au

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Re: 'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

#21

Post by AUmrysh »

This is sad. Nuclear proliferation can be a good thing (energy), but it can also be a bad thing (weapons). NK only does this to get attention from other nations and feel like they are on the same level as them. The end result is food aid to stop the nuclear development. What's really sad is the world produces enough food to feed the entire population of the world, but most of it gets thrown away. I'm willing to pay twice as much for my food if it means the rest of the world gets to eat too, but I fear most people just don't care.

The good news, if you could call it that, is that China doesn't want American troops stationed on it's south border, so they will do what they can to keep NK in line.

Re: 'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

#22

Post by cjensen »

guimarin wrote: post #19

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…

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.

Re: 'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

#23

Post by ghshephard »

guimarin wrote: post #19

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…

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-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."

Re: 'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

#24

Post by guimarin »

cjensen wrote: post #22
guimarin wrote: post #19

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…

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.

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.

Re: 'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

#25

Post by druiid »

guimarin wrote: post #19

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…

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...

Re: 'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

#26

Post by rooshdi »

SoftwareMaven wrote: post #18

My father-in-law was a VP in Northrop Grumman's space and satellite division. The kinds of projects he worked on were space defense satellites. When he looked at all the uncertainty in the world (much caused at least indirectly by the US), his biggest fear was and continues to be North Korea. Given the types of people I know he met with, this test does not fill me with warm fuzzies.

I wonder if the U.S. would react any differently if Iran had conducted these same tests.

Re: 'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

#27

Post by rtpg »

plaguuuuuu wrote: post #13
mjn wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

For decades that's been the problem. South Korea's population centers are too close to the North for an attack to be a reasonable risk: even decades-old artillery and unguided rockets can hit Seoul, launched from hundreds of dug-in sites. So things have been organized around trying to pressure North Korea in various ways, either via China, or directly, but without force being a seriously considered option.

Yep. This is what happens when you expand too close to the enemy's base..

I think this is more due to the fact that Seoul just happened to be next to the arbitrary 55th parallel drawn after WWII.

Re: 'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

#28

Post by cpleppert »

Volpe wrote: post #6

Why is it wrong that NK do Nuclear testing? I agree NK has some human rights issues, that should be addressed, but testing nuclear weapons is no different to Pakistan or India, and there are no sanctions against them.

I'm a little confused here. Your position is one that not even the biggest benefactor of North Korea supports (china) and is indistinguishable from the position that every regime regardless of its political structure should be able to access nuclear weapons. In other words, there should be little restrictions on the proliferation of nuclear technology.

The fact that they are conducting tests is also rather interesting. The simple devices they have developed do not require any testing and given their limited plutonium stockpile they are reducing the amount of deployable weapons by conducting their third test in six years.

I assume you would have supported South Africa's nuclear program?

Re: 'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

#29

Post by panacea »

Volpe wrote: post #15
panacea wrote: post #11

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Seriously? 'some human rights issues'? There could be up to 200,000 political prisoners in North Korean gulags. It's an extreme dictatorship.

Yes, they are severe. my 'some' wasn't refering to the severity of the issues. Regardless this has nothing to do with whether sanctions should be applied for testing weapons.

You seem to think having nuclear weapons is some sort of national right or something. It's not. Nobody wants an unstable, belligerent, nasty dictatorship to have the ability to nuke other countries.

Re: 'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea may be nuclear test

#30

Post by cpleppert »

guimarin wrote: post #24
cjensen wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

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.

Then what do you think caused the earthquake? They haven't been stockpiling tnt and faking a nuclear program at the same time.
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