North Korea's Nuclear Tests Woke Sleeping Faults... "Magnitude 6.3 Earthquake Possible"

[Anchor]

Research results indicate that North Korea's nuclear tests could trigger major earthquakes in the Punggye-ri area. Repeated nuclear tests have reportedly reactivated dormant faults, which could potentially influence the volcanic eruption of Mount Paektu.

Reporter Seo Donggyun has the details.

[Reporter]

Between 2006 and 2017, North Korea conducted six nuclear tests in Punggye-ri, Kilju County, North Hamgyong Province.

The explosions generated artificial earthquakes with magnitudes exceeding 6.0.

Immediately following the sixth and largest nuclear test, satellites captured images showing the deformation of the surrounding topography.

Unusual phenomena have continued even after the cessation of nuclear testing.

This is in front of the tunnels at Punggye-ri where North Korea's nuclear tests took place.

Carved into the 2,200-meter-high Mount Mantap, this location naturally features a complex stress structure within the underground bedrock due to diverse strata and asymmetric slope formations.

However, the shockwaves from North Korea's nuclear tests fractured the underground bedrock and redistributed the stress, causing the mountain peak to sink by 0.5 meters and shift 3.5 meters horizontally.

Starting from late September 2017, when the sixth nuclear test concluded, natural earthquakes that were previously unseen began to occur.

Typically, large earthquakes are followed by smaller aftershocks that gradually subside. In Punggye-ri, however, more than 1,300 earthquakes occurred up to August of last year, with both the frequency and magnitude increasing, reaching up to a magnitude of 3.3.

A joint South Korea-China research team analyzed seismograph data near Mount Paektu and confirmed that these natural earthquakes were caused by North Korea's nuclear tests.

The shock of the nuclear tests reactivated faults that had been dormant for thousands of years.

[Kim Kwang-hee / Professor, Department of Geological Sciences, Pusan National University: Based on the current earthquake activity, the identified fault appears to be over 20 kilometers long. In terms of magnitude, an earthquake of around magnitude 6.2 or 6.3 could certainly occur.]

Research findings also suggest that an earthquake exceeding magnitude 6.0 could impact Mount Paektu, located 120 kilometers to the north.

[Hong Tae-kyung / Professor, Department of Earth System Sciences, Yonsei University: (The earthquake would induce) an increase in pressure within the magma chamber, and this pressure increase plays a role in generating bubbles inside the magma chamber, which can accelerate the eruption of Mount Paektu.]

Mount Paektu's most recent eruption occurred in 1903.

This research, warning that North Korea's nuclear tests could return like a boomerang in the form of a major earthquake around Punggye-ri, was published in the American scientific journal Science.

(Video Reporter: Kim Hak-mo, Video Editor: Yoon Tae-ho, Designer: Yang Gi-tae, PD: Kim Do-gyun, Han Seung-ho, XR: Kim Min-young, Kim Han-gil, Park Cheon-woong, Lee Jun-ho)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.