At 06:23 PM 9/12/04 -0400, Tyler Durden wrote:

I had thought that one of the main tests was seismic...from what I understood, Seismic monitors in the US can detect nu-cu-lar tests (above or below ground) and even guess where and the size of the blast.

Yes. Seismic sensors see some foreshock activity before an earthquake including the big ones. A nuke starts instantly. Standard S & P wave triangulation gives you the location. You can try to hide a blast (in sand; or in an excavated void) but its tough. At 06:50 AM 9/13/04 +0200, Eugen Leitl wrote:

About 4.5 kT of 50:50 ammonium nitrate/ammonium sulfate mix. One of the

largest, if not *the* largest nonnuclear explosions ever.

Ammonium sulphate would not have exploded. Its the nitrate that is the fun group. It has an oxygen surplus, so anythign (like the rest of the ship) vaporized by the detonation would probaby burn. Fuel oil is cheap; aluminum dust is more energetic. At 10:40 PM 9/12/04 -0700, Bill Stewart wrote:

No FO, just AN all by itself. NH4NO3 turns into N2 + 2H2O + O,

Slow decomposition yields nitrous oxide, ie the fun oxide. 19th century chemistry. (And anesthesiology!)

The first earthquake-like event I experienced was when a chemical plant across the river from where I lived blew up; I think it was a fertilizer plant of some sort. (I was in Delaware; the plant was in New Jersey, and it was ~1968.)

The DuPont black powder & nitro plants in Delaware have three strong walls, the weak side faces the river. When they blow up, its much safer. Unless you're on the river, of course. The N Korean blast could have been their missiles blowing up due to screw ups. There's a lot of energy in the fuels. Or it could have been a test of their nuke-testing systems. The media uses the phrase "October surprise", if NK detonates just before the elections. Of course, others are working on their own October gift to W. When the WTC towers fell, it was something like a 3 on the Richter scale. Lots of gravitational energy.