Is it possible that the North Korean Nuclear test caused the earthquake in Hawaii?

Question

They are about 4,600 miles apart but if you draw a line from North Korea to Hawaii its almost a straight shot. I don't know how tectonic plates work, could be a coincidence.

Answer 1

No. Hawaii is not on a tectonic border, therefore a tectonic quake is a rare occurrence. (aside from the volcanic activity) Besides, the forces of nature are awesome in comparison to man's best attempt to display power. A Hurricane has more power in it than several of our best nuclear weapons. A quake - still much more power. To conclude that Korea had anything to do with a Hawaiian earthquake would be wrong.

But I suppose if the forces of nature were at that precarious point where a quake was eminent, then maybe - just maybe, a powerful enough blast could tip the balance. But, if that were the case, then the Hawaiian quake would have come an hour or so later.

Answer 2

Um...isn't a line from North Korea to anywhere a "straight shot"?

And no, because the earthquake *originated* in Hawaii. It would be a completely different thing if the epicenter were somewhere else and caused damages in Hawaii. North Korea did have a minor seismologic activity, which was tracked separately, and the center was tracked to North Korea. The magnitudes of the earthquakes don't even compare, let alone the time difference.

North Korea's test was pitifully weak as a first test for countries going nuclear, and those stronger tests hadn't caused earthquakes thousands of miles away.

Besides, Hawaii is well known as a place for earthquakes and other tectonic activity like...I dunno...volcanoes?

Answer 3

Simply put, no.

The energy put out in the nuclear test in Korea is not suffiecient enough to have caused an earthquake in a location that far off.

Just to show, think of a pool of water. When you throw a rock into the pool, ripples move away from the point of impact. As the waves move further away from the point of origin, they begin to lose power. The earth is very much the same way. The waves of energy released lose power as they move away. This is how you may not feel an earthquake several hundred miles away from the point of origin. The waves of energy are too weak to have an effect.

An explosion large enough to cause an earthquake would be far more noticable, and would be far more damaging than the test is.

Answer 4

it is possible. there have been theories on things like that. a nuclear bumb is very powerful, it must have shaken the plates under China. It is possible that it made a connection.

Answer 5

ask a scientist. i doubt it. but if nk keeps it up they will get an above ground present from the world at large. they need to be slapped down hard.

Answer 6

Wow I never thought about that. I think that it is possible. Great infrence!

Answer 7

I don´t know.