Can Explosions cause Earthquakes?

[tekisui]

Can man-made explosions, from mining or bombs, cause 6.4 magnitude earthquakes?

[Ian David]

1. They can cause superficial tremors, but not quakes. n/t

[cdb]

2. I doubt it

maybe a really huge underground nuke could, but it would have to be in just the right spot, i am guessing

[crikkett]

3. read up on Tesla's experiments...

lots of things can cause earthquakes.

:toast:
Cheers

[wildbilln864]

4. I would think it would depend....

upon the size and location. :shrug:

[ThomWV]

5. No.

[hobbit709]

6. We can't even come close to that amount of energy released

[amdezurik]

11. you don't need to release it

just trigger it

[hobbit709]

14. How much energy do you think it would take

to trigger movement of the crust several miles deep?

[amdezurik]

15. that was not your thrust

you made it seem that in order for a earthquake to happen the full amount of energy HAD to be expended simply start the shifting of plates. As well not every eartquake is "miles deep". so putting aside the amount of energy needed to dig to a particular point that if hit hard enough it would start a quake, perhaps a small nuke. maybe less.

[Auggie]

7. Many earthquakes occur miles below the earth's surface

[tekisui]

8. Thanks, all.

I didn't think so, just wanted to be sure.

[Poll_Blind]

9. Yes, but to trigger an actual earthquake you need one of two things:

:bluebox: Either a "small" (non-atomic-bomb-sized) explosive places at a "sweet spot", usually miles or kilometers below ground which would be very difficult (if not actually impossible given the softness of rock at that level)

:bluebox: Or a "large" (something in the multi-kiloton range) explosive placed deep below ground, still probably at least a half a mile down, and next to a pre-existing fault site which is already wanting to move, subduct, whatever.

  Both are possible but extremely difficult. Believe me, I've tried it many times before and you just wind up with a bunch of dusty, radioactive henchmen.

PB

[TechBear_Seattle]

10. In theory, yes

The earth's crust is broken up into plates. Each plate moves against neighboring plates. Usually, this movement is stopped by friction. Pressure builds up as the plates try to move; eventually that pressure will overcome the friction and the continental plates will move to where they want to be. That sudden creates ripples in the earth's crust, which we feel as earthquakes.

If you set explosives of sufficient power in the right place relative to a fault with a enough built-up pressure, it should be possible to break the friction and cause the plates to slip. That would cause an earthquake. Needless to say, no one has ever tested this theory.

[meegbear]

12. You mean like a tsunami machine?

:hide:

[cobalt1999]

13. Not really.

The amount of energy involved to release tension on a fault line is enormous. If the fault is that close to giving that the tiny amount of energy by human bombs causes failure, then the earthquake was probably a few minutes from occurring anyway.

So, no.