Not only Italian volcanoes and earthquakes, the National Institute of Geophysics and Volcanology (INGV) applies its complex monitoring techniques to the entire planet. By doing so, the Institute is able to detect any nuclear explosion on Earth.
"We have been actively involved in non-proliferation and nuclear disarmament using geophysical techniques for about thirty years", says Massimo Chiappini, manager of INGV - Roma2 section, "our Institute is an integral part of a global control system which allows to recognize events such as those in North Korea”. There is a state law which assigns INGV the role of technical consultancy for the Ministry of Foreign Affairs within the framework of a moratorium which prohibits the execution of atomic tests. "We have created a complex globally avant-garde control infrastructure", continues Massimo Chiappini, "which works in close contact with the Farnesina and which exchanges data with the various global monitoring networks".
The nuclear device used in the North Korean test at 00:30 (UTC) on September 9 was detonated underground in a mountainous area at a depth of several hundred meters. The earthquake produced by the explosion was also recorded by the INGV seismic network and analyzed by the experts. The location indicates that the source is located in the same North Korean nuclear polygon where the last explosion occurred on 6 January. As in the past, the operational nucleus of INGV for international security is charged by the National Authority with characterizing the event from a multidisciplinary point of view. There are currently no traces of radioactivity around national borders. The situation is monitored constantly.
Figure 1 Impulsive behavior of a seismic monitoring station
Figure 2: Location of the North Korean nuclear polygon