As rare as it may seem, but on Sunday, seismometers in Florida recorded an earthquake of magnitude 3.9, the source of which was strangely not natural.
According to a local news channel, the tremors were caused by the explosive weapons testing conducted by the US Navy more than a hundred miles away from Jacksonville. To some, it may be nothing more than a routine military test, while to others, it is millions of taxpayer dollars going into waste. However, this explosion was not the first of its kind. In June earlier this year, something similar happened when US Navy ran a stability test on its nuclear-powered aircraft carrier-the mighty USS Gerald R. Ford setting off 40000 pounds of explosives right next to it.
The induction of this carrier, which happens to be the largest warship in the history of the US Navy, cost the US government around 13.3 billion dollars. In the words of a US Navy spokesperson, the US Navy tests its carriers by conducting “shock trials of new ship designs using live explosives to confirm that our warships can continue to meet demanding mission requirements under harsh conditions they might encounter in battle”. They further added that environmental concerns were addressed by taking into account the “known migration patterns of marine life in the test area.”
Both these tests were conducted not very far from each other, suggesting that they were part of the same ongoing trials of the newly inducted vessel. Similarly, in July this year, an identical explosion also occurred, as reported by Orlando Sentinal. With the kind of beating this new warship is getting, one can only imagine the scope of its abilities.
