Posted on 05/16/2004 10:46:05 AM PDT by per loin
TOKYO -- Japan's Kyodo News, citing numerous diplomatic sources in Vienna, reported Saturday that the force of April 22's train explosion at the North's Ryonchon Station was about that of an earthquake measuring 3.6 on the Richter scale, which would have required about 800 tons of TNT -- about eight times that officially announced by North Korea.
The sources referred to earthquake figures gotten by the Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization.
The North's official Korean Central News Agency had previously reported that the destructive power of the blast was that of 100 tons of dynamite, and explained that the accident was caused by "the electrical contact caused by carelessness during the shunting of wagons loaded with ammonium nitrate fertilizer and tank wagons".
The CTBTO feels that the cause of the explosion may differ from the North's explanation, and noted the explosion might have been caused by highly-explosive materials like military-use fuel going off. Officials at the CTBTO plan to look into the causes of the accident.
The CTBTO said the explosion at Ryongchon was observed using seismological observation stations in Korea, Japan, the United States and Russia. The stations were built to detect nuclear tests.
In Japan' case, seismological observation stations in Nagano, Oita and Okinawa picked up the Ryongchon blast.
The CTBTO collected data from various observation posts, analyzed the data at its International Data Center and estimated the size of the blast. About a week after the explosion, it provided the data to CTBT member states.
The CTBT, written in 1996, has to be ratified by all its signatories for it to be effective, but 44 nuclear and potentially-nuclear states like the United States, China, Pakistan, India and North Korea have put off ratifying the document, which is now on the verge of collapse.
WOW train explosion that rate 3.6 on Richter scale oh yeah they carry explosive
HELLO
I've been wondering if the good guys knew something bad was on that train and delivered it early...
And has the genius Kim Jongg Il surfaced yet? Haven't heard a thing from him. Could he have died that day? I know they claim he DIDN'T but they have yet to produce him.
Nothing to see here, move along™...
Wouldn't it be absolutely SWEET if that WAS the end of the "Il" one? Wonder how long they could pull off a deception like that.
*cough*specops*cough*
My thoughts exactly.
That's getting very close to a KILOTON equivalent explosion!
One thing is for sure - you cannot believe NK's explanation for it!
I'd be laying low till they could prove it was an accident and not a grand assasination attempt.
http://www.tinyvital.com/Misc/nukes.htm
It's within range.
N.Korea Pong
Could it have been a Special Atomic Demolition Munition (SADM), remember there is a report that Syrians were on the train.
FYI
Yes. But the area would have been radioactive, in fact racioactivity would have been picked up by sensors far away from the place.
"And has the genius Kim Jongg Il surfaced yet?"
LOL, perhaps he has not landed yet?
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