Abstract
The North Korean nuclear explosion test site in Punggye-ri is located in a seismically quiescent region on a stable Precambrian basement. The 3 September 2017 MW5.6 North Korean underground nuclear explosion (UNE) test produced unprecedented strong ground motions. The peak ground accelerations might reach tens to hundreds m/s2 on the surface of the UNE test site, decaying exponentially with distance. Ten shallow events with magnitudes greater than or equal to ML2.5 and source depths less than 3 km followed the 2017 UNE for 5 months in an area with a radius of 15 km from the UNE where strong ground shaking was experienced. The largest event with MW3.7 occurred 20 days after the 2017 UNE test at shallow depths less than 3 km. Its moment tensor solution indicates a combined source behavior with comparable strengths of double-couple and compensated linear vector dipole (CLVD) components, suggesting an unusual event different from typical natural earthquakes in the Korean Peninsula. The clustered shallow seismic events appeared to have occurred in damaged media that were effectively perturbed by the strong ground motions of the UNE.
Highlights
North Korea has conducted six underground nuclear explosion (UNE) tests of increasing detonation strengths since 2000
The Punggye-ri UNE test site is located in the northeastern Korean Peninsula, which belongs to Nangrim massif, a geologically stable region with low seismicity[3] and a basement of high-grade gneisses and schists[2,4]
Strong ground motions were produced by the UNE
Summary
North Korea has conducted six underground nuclear explosion (UNE) tests of increasing detonation strengths since 2000. The UNE test site is located in a seismically quiescent region in the Korean Peninsula. The influence of successive UNE tests and strong ground motions on regional seismicity remains unclear. The level of dynamic stress changes associated with the strong ground motions may trigger volcanic eruptions in Mount Baekdu, an active volcano located ~120 km away from the UNE test site. A study of the potential hazards of strong ground motions on the induction of volcanic eruptions in Mount Baekdu showed that seismic waves from a large UNE could dynamically change the internal pressure (stress) in the magma chamber, which would in turn accelerate a volcanic eruption[1]. The Punggye-ri UNE test site is located in the northeastern Korean Peninsula, which belongs to Nangrim massif, a geologically stable region with low seismicity[3] and a basement of high-grade gneisses and schists[2,4].
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