Something for the conspiracy theorists like myself

[Jangle]

Artificially-Induced Earthquakes

Officially, there is an area of research devoted to man-made earthquakes. Geologists and seismologists agree earthquakes can be induced in five major ways: fluid injection into the Earth, fluid extraction from the Earth, mining or quarrying, nuclear testing and through the construction of dams and reservoirs.

In fact, there are officially recorded instances of earthquakes caused by human activity.

Geologists discovered that disposal of waste fluids by means of injecting them deep into the Earth could trigger earthquakes after a series of quakes in the Denver area occurred from 1962-1965; the periods and amounts of injected waste coincided with the frequency and magnitude of quakes in the Denver area. The earthquakes were triggered because the liquid, which was injected under very high pressure, released stored strain energy in the rocks.

Man-made earthquakes may seem like something out of the X-Files, and it’s probably only a matter of time before the idea is picked up by Hollywood.

The plotline of Hammer of Eden, written by best-selling author Ken Follett, revolves around a terrorist group threatening to level San Francisco with a man-made earthquake. When asked by Salon magazine how real is the idea of a man-made earthquake, Follett replied that, “Some of the seismologists told me, ‘There’s no way this could happen.’ But others gave sad little shrugs and said, ‘It’s hard to say. Who knows? Maybe. It’s within the realm of possibly.’”

[MdmeX]

Yeah - I read that book!

[Jawge]

In a rudimentary form yes (for example an offshoot of underground nuclear testing) but to use as a weapon; there isn’t sufficient data to support this. A nation would have to target another nation whilst excluding those friendly to it (including its assets and interests). Our civilization is certainly pushing towards the age when the control of earthquakes is possible. It could be done via our advancement in computing; by fusing us with machines (see Bill Joy’s Essay) or other means. An analysis of our (present civilization) history and science will show that we are not as advanced as we would like to believe. The Western world has made significant progress in harnessing the power of water and controlling it to an extent (one can look at the US with its massive dams, railroads beneath large rivers et al. Matter of fact when it rains in NY. City traffic still flows and the subways are still functional). The Haitian disaster has proven that there is a lot more work to do.
Sidebar: Garvey was right there is a lot more things on this planet that needs to be done; hence we can make our mark.

To bring home the point, please read this excerpt from the physicist
Michio Kaku (pay attention to the red italics) :



If we look at the rise of our own civilization over
the past 100,000 years, since modern humans emerged in Africa, it can
be seen as the story of rising energy consumption. Russian astrophysicist
Nikolai Rardashev has conjectured that the stages in the development
of extraterrestrial civilizations in the universe could also be
ranked by energy consumption. Using the laws of physics, he grouped
the possible civilizations into three types:

1. Type I civilizations: those that harvest planetary
power, utilizing all the sunlight that strikes their planet
They can, perhaps, harness the power of volcanoes, manipulate
the weather, control earthquakes, and build cities on
the ocean. All planetary power is within their control.

2. Type II civilizations: those that can utilize the entire
power of their sun, making them 10 billion times more powerful
than a Type I civilization. The Federation of Planets in
Star Trek is a Type II civilization. A Type II civilization, in a
sense, is immortal; nothing known to science, such as ice
ages, meteor impacts, or even supernovae, can destroy it (In
case their mother star is about to explode, these beings can
move to another star system, or perhaps even move their
home planet)

3. Type III civilizations: those that can utilize the power
of an entire galaxy. They are 10 billion times more powerful
than a Type II civilization. The Borg in Star Trek, the Empire
in Star Wars, and the galactic civilization in Asimov's Foundation
series correspond to a Type III civilization. They have
colonized billions of star systems and can exploit the power
of the black hole at the center of their galaxy. They freely
roam the space lanes of the galaxy.
Rardashev estimated that any civilization growing at a modest rate
of a few percent per year in energy consumption will progress rapidly
from one type to the next, within a matter of a few thousand years to
tens of thousands of years.

As I've discussed in my previous books, our own civilization qualifies
a Type 0 civilization (i.e., we use dead plants, oil and coal, to fuel
our machines). We utilize only a tiny fraction of the sun's energy that
falls on our planet. But already we can see the beginnings of a Type I
civilization emerging on the Earth. The Internet is the beginning of a
Type I telephone system connecting the entire planet. The beginning of
a Type I economy can be seen in the rise of the European Union, which
in turn was created to compete with NAFTA. English is already the
number one second language on the Earth and the language of science,
finance, and business. I imagine it may become the Type I language
spoken by virtually everyone. Local cultures and customs will
continue to thrive in thousands of varieties on the Earth, but superimposed
on this mosaic of peoples will be a planetary culture, perhaps
dominated by youth culture and commercialism.
The transition between one civilization and the next is far from
guaranteed. The most dangerous transition, for example, may be between
a Type 0 and a Type I civilization. A Type 0 civilization is still
wracked with the sectarianism, fundamentalism, and racism that typified
its rise, and it is not clear whether or not these tribal and religious
passions will overwhelm the transition. (Perhaps one reason that we
don't see Type I civilizations in the galaxy is because they never made
the transition, i.e., they self-destructed. One day, as we visit other star
systems, we may find the remains of civilizations that killed themselves
in one way or another, e.g., their atmospheres became radioactive
or too hot to sustain life.)
By the time a civilization has reached Type III status it has the energy
and know-how to travel freely throughout the galaxy and even
reach the planet Earth. As in the movie 2001, such civilizations may
well send self-replicating, robotic probes throughout the galaxy searching
for intelligent life.

But a Type III civilization would likely not be inclined to visit us or
conquer us, as in the movie Independence Day, where such a civilization
spreads like a plague of locusts, swarming around planets to suck
their resources dry. In reality, there are countless dead planets in outer
space with vast mineral wealth they could harvest without the nuisance
of coping with a restive native population. Their attitude toward
us might resemble our own attitude toward an ant hill. Our inclination
is not to bend down and offer the ants beads and trinkets, but simply
to ignore them.
The main danger ants face is not that humans want to invade them
or wipe them out. Instead it is simply that we will pave them over because
they are in the way. Remember that the distance between a Type
III civilization and our own Type 0 civilization is far more vast than
the distance between us and the ants, in terms of energy usage.

In short, not yet (please note I’m dealing strictly with earthquakes).