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A study denies that an earthquake in Iran was due to a nuclear test

A study denies that an earthquake in Iran was due to a nuclear test

Madrid, Feb. 4 (Europa Press) –

A new study has denied that an earthquake of magnitude 4.5 in Iran was a undercover nuclear test, As spread in October 2024 in the midst of geopolitical tensions in the Middle East.

Directed by scientists from Johns Hopkins University, the study warns about the possible consequences of poor management and misinterpretation of scientific information, particularly during periods of international conflict. The findings appear in sixmic magazine.

“There was a concerted campaign of misinformation and misinformation about this event that promoted the idea that it was a nuclear test, which is not something that is often seen with an earthquake,” said Benjamin Fernando, a seismologist by Johns Hopkins who directed the study. “This shows how geophysical data played an important role in a geopolitical crisis.”

The earthquake occurred on October 5, 2024, approximately 50 kilometers southwest of Semnan, a city in northern Iran, and about 216 kilometers east of Tehran. Iran is a country prone to earthquakessince it is located in a seismically active region in the convergence of the tectonic plates of Arabia and Eurasia.

Fernando’s team analyzed the seismic signals of the event, identifying the natural seismic activity caused by the earthquake.

Using publicly available data of seismic monitoring stationsThe researchers concluded that the earthquake originated along a soft slope failure where the earth’s crust was deforming with the collision between Arabia and Eurasia. The process is aligned with the geophysical forces that characterize the tectonically active interior of the region and Discard any connection with a particularly unusual source or nuclear test, The study concludes.

“The seismic waves transport information about the earthquake that produced them as they spread around the planet. When registering the waves in different parts of the earth’s surface, we can determine what were the properties of the source that produced them,” he said Fernando.

Nuclear tests have explosive signatures

“In this case, the source was what we call an inverse failure, a movement associated with the crushing of the earth’s crust when the Arabian and Eurasiatic plates collide. Nuclear tests have very different firms, which are explosive. “

Historical seismic data further support this conclusion, Fernando said. The organization of the Treaty of Complete Prohibition of Nuclear Tests (CTBTO), which monitors nuclear tests worldwide, reported that earthquakes with similar characteristics and magnitudes in the same region in 2015 and 2018, both without relation to nuclear activity.

Despite the clear scientific evidence of natural seismic activity, the statements that the earthquake was a nuclear test began to spread rapidly on social networks only 17 minutes after the event. The initial tweets misunderstood the seismic data, what soon gave way to misinformation and probably to active misinformationsaid Fernando.

In the following hours, misinformation intensified and some publications cited seismic data from a completely different earthquake in Armenia that same day to corroborate the narrative of the nuclear test.

Disinformation gained force as conspiracy theories linked the Iranian earthquake with an alleged seismic event in Israel the same night. While the study said It is difficult to confirm deliberate misinformationthe sustained commitment and specialized use of seismological data in social networks suggest possible experience with experience.

One of the most shared messages promoted by the nuclear test theory came from an account linked to misinformation campaigns supported by Russia, the researchers found.

A few hours after the event, the false narrative went from social networks to news reports around the world. The Indian media in English were the most active in informing about the statements of the nuclear test, often referring to the stories of others and citing the incorrect seismic data. The researchers also identified reports from the United States media, Israel, Pakistan, Zimbabwe, France and the United Kingdom.

In contrast, the media in Persian language generally described the event with precision as a natural earthquake. These reports were based on comments from local experts and official seismic data more frequently than the media in English, which offered a more precise understanding of the event.

The researchers recommended a greater rapid response collaboration between seismologists to quickly verify the facts and correct the bad interpretations of the data, and to contrast more actively misinformation.

“Scientific agencies could issue detailed reports quickly to counteract misinformation,” said co -author Saman Karimi, Johns Hopkins’s geophysicist. “Amplification to the contents from verified scientific stories could help reduce the deceptive narrative. This can be done through the association between social media and seismologists platforms or reliable agencies such as the United States geological service. “

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