Name of subarea | Latitudes N | Longitudes E | Number of explosions | Distance,in km, of explosions from Gazli earthquake zone |
URGENCH | 40.86 - 41.04 | 61.60 - 61.74 | 4 | 130 - 200 |
BUKHARA | 39.13 - 39.44 | 64.09 - 64.36 | 16 | 90 - 180 |
KARSHI | 39.08 - 39.17 | 65.26 - 65.62 | 11 | 170 - 260 |
Below in Table 2 is a full list of the known and presumed chemical explosions in this area. There are thirty-one events with magnitude from 4.0 to 5.0. It is surprising that these events appear not to have aroused much comment by western seismologists. Twenty-three of them, each of which was a few kilotons in yield, were conducted during 6 months of 1983 in almost aseismic areas. Another eight were conducted before and after this period. All events are listed in ISC catalogs as earthquakes with magnitude mb = 4.1 - 4.9.
The closest active seismic zone is the Gazli region (40.3 - 40.6 N and 63.2-63.7 E) located in similar geological conditions.
All explosions were well recorded teleseismically. They represent a unique opportunity for testing and developing techniques for discrimination between earthquakes and chemical explosions.
Both types of event (earthquakes and these chemical explosions) occurred in a platform region (the Turan Platform) very similar to the Kazakhstan Platform (from the point of view of seimic waves propagation and attenuation). With these events, it would be possible to study both regional and teleseismic discriminants in conditions similar geologically and geophysically (not only crust, but upper mantle) to those of STS.
1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 |
Explosion # | Subarea and number | date | origin time (GMT) | charge size, tons | K | mb(ISC, no. sta) | mb(NEIS) | lat, N | long, E | locating agency | no. of ISC stations used | reporting agency, and notes |
1 | Bukhara | 1964-Jul-23 | 05:29:28 | 9200 | - | 4.00 | - | 39.50 | 64.00 | ISC | 2 | IDG |
2 | Karshi-1 | 1981-Jan-23 | 09:59:23 | ? | - | 4.2/(3) | 4.I | 39.17 | 65.62 | ISC | 9 | |
3 | Urgench-1 | 1981-Jun-30 | 14:46:44 | ? | - | 4.6/(17) | 4.4 | 40.92 | 61.69 | ISC | 58 | |
14:46:44 | 41.05 | 61.60 | MOS | - | ||||||||
4 | Urgench-2 | 1982-Apr-14 | 07:40:20 | ? | - | 4.5/(10) | 4.6 | 40.89 | 61.74 | ISC | 46 | |
40.92 | 61.74 | MOS | - | |||||||||
5 | Bukhara-1 | 1982-Apr-20 | 05:39:09 | ? | - | 4.0/(2) | 4.0 | 39.61 | 64.30 | ISC | 22 | |
39.62 | 64.25 | MOS | - | |||||||||
6 | Urgench-3 | 1982-Dec-26 | 05:29:31 | 2550 | 12.4 | 4.8/(36) | 4.9 | 40.98 | 61.68 | ISC | 77 | IDG |
05:29:28 | 40.92 | 61.63 | MOS | - | mb(K) = 5.06 | |||||||
7 | Bukhara-2 | 1983-Mar-05 | 11:37:51 | ? | - | 4.7/(25) | 4.7 | 39.26 | 64.39 | ISC | 77 | IDG |
11:37:49 | 39.28 | 64.34 | MOS | - | ||||||||
8 | Bukhara-3 | 1983-Mar-23 | 11:07:57 | 1960 | 11.3 | 4.6/(8) | - | 39.24 | 64.13 | ISC | 29 | IDG |
11:07:55 | 39.34 | 64.09 | MOS | - | ||||||||
10.8 | Uzbek network | |||||||||||
11.0 | Turkmen | mb(K) = 4.56 | ||||||||||
9 | Bukhara-4 | 1983-Apr-11 | 08:31:42 | ? | - | 4.9/(10) | 4.9 | 39.29 | 64.24 | ISC | 37 | |
10 | Bukhara-5 | 1983-Apr-16 | ? | 4280 | - | - | - | 39.00 | 64.00 | - | - | IDG |
11 | Bukhara-6 | 1983-Apr-22 | 03:56:22 | 5426 | 11.4 | 4.8/(20) | 4.8 | 39.34 | 64.24 | ISC | 74 | IDG |
39.49 | 64.27 | MOS | ||||||||||
11.0 | Uzbek network | Ms = 3.9 | ||||||||||
11.7 | Turkmen | mb(K) = 4.60 | ||||||||||
12 | Karshi-2 | 1983-Apr-28 | 12:18:53 | ? | ? | 3.9/(2) | 4.3 | 39.16 | 65.22 | ISC | 8 | IDG |
13 | Bukhara-7 | 1983-Apr-30 | 14:??:?? | 3330 | ? | - | - | 39.00 | 64.00 | - | - | IDG |
obscured by large earthquake | ||||||||||||
14 | Karshi-3 | 1983-May-06 | 12:01:23 | ? | ? | 4.1/(2) | - | 39.17 | 65.44 | ISC | 9 | |
15 | Bukhara-8 | 1983-May-16 | 12:07:51 | 1690 | 11.3 | 4.7/(12) | 4.7 | 39.31 | 64.33 | ISC | 33 | IDG |
12:07:49 | 39.38 | 64.26 | MOS | |||||||||
11.6 | Turkmen network | m(K) = 4.74 | ||||||||||
16 | Karshi-4 | 1983-May-19 | 12:03:09 | ? | ? | 4.4/(6) | - | 39.14 | 65.50 | ISC | 14 | |
17 | Karshi-5 | 1983-May-26 | 12:18:14 | ? | ? | 4.7/(11) | 4.7 | 39.16 | 65.48 | ISC | 28 | IDG |
18 | Bukhara-9 | 1983-May-26 | 12:46:22 | 3830 | 10.7 | 4.5/(6) | 4.7 | 39.23 | 64.27 | ISC | 17 | IDG |
10.8 | Uzbek network | Ms = 3.8 | ||||||||||
10.8 | Turkmen | mb(K) = 4.33 | ||||||||||
19 | Karshi-6 | 1983-Jun-01 | 11:58:37 | ? | ? | 4.0/(2) | 4.3 | 39.16 | 65.26 | ISC | 7 | |
20 | Karshi-7 | 1983-Jun-03 | 12:10:02 | ? | ? | 4.5/(6) | 4.4 | 39.08 | 65.39 | ISC | 14 | |
21 | Karshi-8 | 1983-Jun-11 | 12:57:30 | ? | ? | 4.6/(10) | 4.5 | 39.13 | 65.53 | ISC | 24 | IDG |
12:57:29 | 39.60 | 65.71 | MOS | |||||||||
22 | Bukhara-10 | 1983-Jun-15 | 13:34:03 | 4140 | 12.0 | 4.8/(28) | 4.8 | 39.31 | 64.36 | ISC | 56 | IDG |
13:34:02 | 39.39 | 64.29 | MOS | |||||||||
12.1 | Turkmen network | mb(K) = 4.90 | ||||||||||
23 | Urgench-4 | 1983-Jun-25 | 20:35:11 | 2620 | 11.9 | 4.5/(24) | 4.5 | 40.92 | 61.62 | ISC | 37 | IDG |
40.86 | 61.65 | MOS | ||||||||||
12.0 | Turkmen network | mb(K) = 4.86 | ||||||||||
24 | Karshi-9 | 1983-Jul-01 | 06:08:55 | ? | ? | 4.2/(3) | - | 38.90 | 64.90 | ISC | 9 | |
25 | Bukhara-11 | 1983-Jul-02 | 11:42:21 | 2560 | 11.5 | 4.8/(20) | 4.8 | 39.22 | 64.36 | ISC | 52 | IDG |
11:42:18 | 39.44 | 64.34 | MOS | |||||||||
11.6 | Uzbek network | Ms = 4.2 | ||||||||||
11.7 | Turkmen | mb(K) = 4.69 | ||||||||||
26 | Bukhara-12 | 1983-Jul-11 | 14:47:56 | 3460 | 11.5 | 4.6/(13) | 4.7 | 39.23 | 64.38 | ISC | 30 | IDG |
14:47:52 | 39.42 | 64.34 | MOS | |||||||||
11.7 | Turkmen network | mb(K) = 4.74 | ||||||||||
27 | Karshi-10 | 1983-Jul-16 | 04:32:01 | ? | ? | 4.5/(6) | 4.5 | 39.15 | 65.31 | ISC | 15 | IDG |
04:31:57 | 39.36 | 65.23 | MOS | |||||||||
28 | Karshi-11 | 1983-Aug-04 | 05:22:56 | ? | ? | 4.5/(5) | 4.4 | 39.09 | 65.33 | ISC | 15 | IDG |
05:22:52 | 39.32 | 65.17 | MOS | |||||||||
29 | Bukhara-13 | 1983-Aug-27 | 05:04:49 | 2280 | 11.2 | 4.5/(25) | 4.6 | 39.24 | 64.47 | ISC | 45 | IDG |
39.13 | 64.30 | MOS | ||||||||||
11.5 | Uzbek network | Ms = 4.1 | ||||||||||
11.0 | Turmen | mb(K) = 4.51 | ||||||||||
30 | Bukhara-14 | 1984-Mar-03 | 09:24:28 | ? | ? | 4.3/(2) | - | 39.36 | 64.36 | ISC | 22 | |
31 | Bukhara-15 | 1993-May-08 | 13:21:29 | ? | ? | 4.0/(2) | - | 39.10 | 64.30 | ISC | 11 | |