Is there a tectonic weapon that can cause earthquake?

Often, after destructive earthquakes, conspiracy theories appear, claiming that the disaster was allegedly caused by an artificial way. We checked whether today there is a weapon that can provoke earthquakes.

Discussions of tectonic weapons, which is supposedly able to cause earthquakes in a certain place at a certain time, can be found in various Media, on forums and in social networks. Vladimir Zhirinovsky He said The fact that "all earthquakes and associated floods can be done artificially." According to his version, “all this is done cunningly: firstly, this happens only in Asia or Africa to protect the“ golden billion ”-residents of the USA, Canada and the European Union.” Many They remembered His words after a destructive earthquake that occurred in Turkey and Syria on February 6, 2023. Media They wrote that the "prophecy" of Zhirinovsky came true. "Prophet-mathematician" Sidik Afghan told On the air of the Russia-1 television channel, that the world has a "committee against humanity." By intention This committee, in the ground at a depth of 14 km, blew up a bomb, which caused an earthquake. The social networks also spread theorythat the earthquake was allegedly caused by developing the American HAARP project.

Some natural phenomena that hit the industry, the economy and the population of certain countries often cause talk about the artificial nature of the catastrophe. The mention of tectonic weapons - a certain hypothetical method that can artificially cause earthquakes in a certain location pop up. The term "tectonic weapon" was invented In 1992, a corresponding member of the Academy of Sciences of the USSR and RAS Alexei Nikolaev. Nikolaev defined tectonic weapons as "the use of the accumulated tectonic energy of the bowels of the Earth to provoke a destructive earthquake." Some actions of a person really capable To influence seismic activity and provoke earthquakes: mainly nuclear trials, mining and filling large reservoirs.

Nuclear explosions can To cause small earthquakes and even a series of aphthershoks (repeated seismic shocks of less intensity), but this is extremely rare. Earthquakes from explosions are usually much weaker than the explosion itself, and the radius of seismic waves does not exceed several tens of kilometers. Energy released during a nuclear explosion, usually It is from 2 to 250 kiloton. For comparison: the power of the natural earthquake of medium power magnitude 6.5 in Afghanistan in 1998 Compiled 2000 kiloton. To artificially cause seismic shocks of such power, a bomb of several tens of thousands of kilotons would be required. By the way, explosions of bombs of such sizes in history happened, but they did not lead to destructive earthquakes. For example, the explosion of the largest thermonuclear bomb in history, "Tsar-bombs»With a capacity of 58,000 kiloton, according to the available data, did not lead to tangible earthquakes in the region. The largest underground thermonuclear Testing, conducted by the United States in the Aleutian Islands in 1971, also did not cause earthquakes. And this is despite the fact that the Aleutian islands are a seismoactive zone, and during an explosion of a bomb with a capacity of 5,000 kilotons, the amount of energy was released, which is equivalent to an earthquake of magnitude 6.9. Thus, using nuclear explosions as tectonic weapons is pointless at least due to the low probability of achieving the desired result.

Another type of human activity that can cause earthquakes - Frexing (from the English. Fracking - "hydraulic rupture of the layer"). The process implies the drilling of wells in shale deposits and pumping water, sand and chemicals under high pressure to destroy the breed and release of oil. In some regions, such a destruction of the layer Maybe provoke earthquakes due to displacement of breeds. The vast majority of fraking operations Do not call rock movements.

Most technological earthquakes associated with oil and gas production are caused not by Freking itself, but disposal wastewater. In nature, oil is mixed with large volumes of water, which after production must be filtered and utilized. This wastewater is pumped back into the ground, into the tanks at a great depth, which press on the existing faults in the rocks and cause earthquakes. The strongest documented earthquake caused in this way It happened In the state of Oklahoma in 2016 (Magnituda 5.8). And yet only a small percentage of wastewater tanks Calls Seismic activity - as a rule, these are tanks of a very large volume, while located in the immediate vicinity of breeds.

Also known CasesWhen the filling of large ground reservoirs led to an increase in the seismicity of the adjacent territory. But it is obvious that such methods cannot be used to provoke earthquakes in the "enemy" territory, since seismicactivity increases relatively close to wells or reservoirs, and even then not always.

After the earthquake in Turkey and Syria in 2023, several theories The conspiracy that it was a “punitive operation of the United States” against Turkey. For example, Users Tiktok saw a connection between the earthquake on February 6 and arrival American destroyer "with megaboholovka" in the Turkish port of Göljyuk on February 3. Supposedly on board this vessel there was a seismic weapon - installation HAARP (High-Frequency Auroral Research Program). Nevertheless, many scientists They called it This theory is untenable. HAARP is a radio transmitter emitting radio waves like a strong AM radio station. Scientists are unknown to the mechanisms with which the AM radio waves can cause an earthquake. David Malaspin, Researcher at the Laboratory of Physics of Atmosphere and Cosmos of the Colorado University in Boulder, saidthat such radio waves penetrate the ground by less than 1 cm, and earthquakes occur much deeper. For example, in Turkey, the earthquake occurred at a depth of about 10 km. In addition, it is impossible to launch waves to a certain distance and with acceptable accuracy to hit certain settlements, He thinks Associate Professor of the Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Engineering of Boston University Tosha Nisimur.

Attempts to create tectonic weapons were made by several countries in the 20th century. The joint project of the Armed Forces of the United States and New Zealand, called Seal, was aimed at creating tsunami using the placement of many explosives on the bottom of the ocean. Testing Showedthat the chain of bombs with a total weight of 2 million kg, located at a distance of about 8 km from the coast, can create a destructive wave. But this method of using tsunami to destroy enemy cities was Recognized Relatively ineffective: the largest part of the energy of the waves dispersed, breaking through the continental shelf, and without reaching the shore. Despite the failure of the project, in 1999 experts notedThe creation of such weapons in theory is possible, but further research has not been conducted since then.

In the USSR too existed Two programs-“Volcano” and “Mercury-18”, which studied “distance effect on the focus of the earthquake using weak seismic fields and the transfer of the energy of the explosion”. Within the framework of these programs, a number of successful experiments were carried out, but after the collapse of the USSR, the programs ceased to exist. Teacher at Lida University Roger Clark notedThe creation of such mechanisms is theoretically possible, however, given the past experience, is extremely unlikely.

Thus, some actions of a person, such as nuclear tests or deep waste disposal of wastewater, are really able to influence seismic activity and cause “artificial” earthquakes with magnitude to 5-6. Nevertheless, such earthquakes occur in the immediate vicinity of the landfill, wells or reservoirs. It is impossible to organize such activities in foreign territory, especially imperceptibly from the enemy. And in conjunction with the fact that such earthquakes are still unlikely and unpredictable, it is not yet possible to use them as a weapon.

Photo on the cover: Wikimedia

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Read on the topic:

1. National Geographic. How Humans are Causing Deadly Earthquakes
2. Earthquake in Turkey and Syria: check 8 photos and videos
3. Is it true that animals can foresee earthquakes?