Underground nuclear explosions can trigger nearby earthquakes and aftershock sequences, but the evidence cited here does not establish that they generally continue for years—or document a named sequence lasting multiple years. A well-recorded Pahute Mesa sequence was observed over a period of about eight months. That is evidence of post-test seismic activity, not proof of years-long persistence.
How can an underground explosion trigger earthquakes?
The explosion itself produces a seismic signal. Any later earthquakes are separate events: an explosion can disturb stress on existing faults and, in some cases, trigger smaller earthquakes or an aftershock sequence. The U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) puts it plainly: “A nuclear explosion can cause an earthquake and even an aftershock sequence.” It also cautions that not every explosion has caused earthquakes.
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One proposed explanation is that changes in fluid pressure within existing fractures affect when triggered aftershocks occur. Healy, Hamilton, and Raleigh described this as a hypothesis consistent with observed spatial patterns, not a settled explanation for every test or sequence. Read the 1970 article by Healy, Hamilton, and Raleigh.
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What does the Pahute Mesa record show?
A USGS report published in 1977 counted 1,075 earthquakes of local magnitude 2.5–4.9 in the Pahute Mesa area between October 28, 1975, and June 28, 1976. The report attributed the majority to eight nuclear events of local magnitude 5.8–6.3. The stated dates bound the report’s observation period; they do not, by themselves, establish when the sequence began or ended.
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The report found that the earthquakes were displaced laterally from ground zero and occurred at depths of 4–6 kilometers, while the tests were buried at about 1 kilometer. It also recorded a different outcome for smaller tests: events of local magnitude 5.5 or less at Rainier Mesa and Yucca Flat did not trigger aftershock sequences. The findings therefore describe particular tests and conditions, not a rule that every underground test produces a sequence. See the USGS Pahute Mesa report.
How close to a test can triggered earthquakes occur?
The USGS says possible triggered earthquakes are limited to a few tens of kilometers from the shot point, and that induced earthquakes are much smaller than the explosion. In the Benham study, reported test-associated effects extended no more than 13 kilometers from ground zero. These figures describe local effects; they do not support treating any earthquake in a broad region as test-caused simply because it happened after a test. USGS: Can nuclear explosions cause earthquakes? Hamilton, McKeown, and Healy’s Benham study (1969).
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Do tests cause distant or damaging earthquakes?
Timing and proximity alone are not enough to establish that a test triggered an earthquake. The USGS FAQ discusses specific tests of distant effects. In 1969, the possibility that large Nevada Test Site explosions could trigger damaging earthquakes in California was publicly raised. A comparison of northern California earthquakes of magnitude 3.5 and larger with the six largest thermonuclear tests from 1965 through 1969 showed no peaks in earthquake rates at test times.
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What would prove that a sequence lasted for years?
A multi-year claim needs more than a test followed by earthquakes in the same general region. It would need a named test, a cataloged sequence with dates spanning the claimed years, and a justified basis for attributing those events to the test rather than to unrelated regional seismicity. The sources cited here document triggering in some cases and a Pahute Mesa reporting interval of about eight months, but do not verify a specific sequence continuing for multiple years.
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