Measuring earthquakes in the Arctic archipelago of Severnaya Zemlya and above is challenging because of their remote location. So when an event is recorded by seismic networks and arrays it is very significant… and baffling. Today, December 24, 2017, a shallow M4.9 quake was measured by seismic networks across the world. It is even more interesting when you know that Russia used to conduct nuclear explosions at its former test site on the Novaya Zemlya, and that the Russian navy tests new submarines and missiles in the high artic.
Today, 2017-02-23, the north of Severnaya Zemlya, Russia was rattled by a shallow (10km) M5.0 earthquake at 20:13. Such a seismic event is very rare and thus suspect.
Due to different conflicts across the world, tensions are rising between the USA, Russia, China, and North Korea, among other countries. To show their power and by the way scare their ennemies, these countries
The era of Soviet nuclear weapons testing in the Arctic resulted in many large seismic events – like after the Tsar Bomba – for which the source parameters are well known and which were recorded globally.
The today’s high-arctic earthquake was also recorded globally, very shallow. We just want to know if it was natural or man-made. And if it was a test, what type of bomb did explose and who pushed the button.
So could this large earthquake for the region be the result of a new russian atomic bomb test?
