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North Korean nuclear test sets off years of earthquakes

225 points · 181 comments · rbanffy

  1. ortusdux · · focus · HN ↗
    How long until someone attempts to diffuse a pent up fault line via nuclear geoengineering?
    1. rtkwe · · focus · HN ↗
      The issue on real faults is they span massive areas. The San Andreas fault system spans basically the entire coast of California.

      Even if we could identify the right points there's a big liability shift both legal and political between doing nothing and intentionally setting off an earthquake that would be hard to predict the size of. It's part of why ~~proscribed~~ prescribed burns fell out of favor, it's way easier to do nothing and blame nature than defending damage caused by intentional acts. It gets into messy areas where it's hard to convince people that the damage was lesser than it otherwise would have been in the future.

      1. gmac · · focus · HN ↗
        Typo: prescribed burns.

        One of the most ridiculous pairs of approximate homophones in the English language.

        Proscribed = forbidden. Prescribed = recommended/required.

        1. rtkwe · · focus · HN ↗
          Whoops, thanks.
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