Nuclear tests at Mt. Mantap have reactivated intraplate faults

Underground nuclear explosions typically produce short-lived seismic sequences that decay rapidly after testing ceases. By contrast, seismicity near the Punggye-ri nuclear test site at Mt. Mantap in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has persisted and intensified for years after the final large-yield explosion in 2017, evolving from diffuse activity to spatially organized distribution along fault-controlled structures. Analysis of 17 years of continuous waveform data reveals a progressive increase in seismicity and delayed reactivation of shallow faults. Earthquakes cluster beneath asymmetric topography, indicating progressive stress redistribution within a critically stressed crustal volume. These observations challenge conventional expectations, showing that under specific geological conditions, underground nuclear testing can drive multiyear fault reactivation and extend posttest seismicity well beyond the immediate aftermath of an explosion.

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Publication Details

Journal
Science
Published
2026-09-17
DOI
https://doi.org/10.1126/science.adx5917
Primary Topic
earthquake and tectonic studies
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00

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article

Nuclear tests at Mt. Mantap have reactivated intraplate faults

Qi‐Fu Chen, Lanbo Liu, Su Young Kang, Lian‐Feng Zhao et al.
Science
earthquake and tectonic studies
article

Nuclear tests at Mt. Mantap have reactivated intraplate faults

Qi‐Fu Chen, Lanbo Liu, Su Young Kang, Lian‐Feng Zhao, Xingli Fan, Yuan Wang, Le Li, Kwang‐Hee Kim, Hyeong‐Tae Jou, Yujin Sohn, Jie Song, Tianyao Hao
article en

Abstract

Underground nuclear explosions typically produce short-lived seismic sequences that decay rapidly after testing ceases. By contrast, seismicity near the Punggye-ri nuclear test site at Mt. Mantap in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea has persisted and intensified for years after the final large-yield explosion in 2017, evolving from diffuse activity to spatially organized distribution along fault-controlled structures. Analysis of 17 years of continuous waveform data reveals a progressive increase in seismicity and delayed reactivation of shallow faults. Earthquakes cluster beneath asymmetric topography, indicating progressive stress redistribution within a critically stressed crustal volume. These observations challenge conventional expectations, showing that under specific geological conditions, underground nuclear testing can drive multiyear fault reactivation and extend posttest seismicity well beyond the immediate aftermath of an explosion.

ScienceVol. 393(6817)
Shandong University (CN), Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Chengdu University of Technology (CN), Institute of Geology and Geophysics (AZ), Institute of Geology and Geophysics (CN), University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CN), Pusan National University (KR), China Earthquake Administration (CN)
National Natural Science Foundation of China, National Research Foundation of Korea
Sustainable cities and communities
Openalex Percentile: Top 17%
earthquake and tectonic studies
DOIOpen Access PDFOpenAlex
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