40,000lb Bomb Detonated By US Navy Triggered An Earthquake Near Florida
The US Navy detonated a 40,000lb bomb next to its own aircraft carrier on June 18, according to the U.S. Sun. This explosion resulted in an earthquake 100 miles away in Florida.
According to the U.S. Geological Survey, Daytona Beach was shaken by a 3.9-magnitude quake during the USS Gerald R. Ford (CVN 78) ‘shock trial.’
This trial was run to simulate how the newest Navy ship would perform in battle conditions.The U.S Naval Institute (USNI) reported that the vessel was wired with sensors to measure the effects of the shock.
CVN 78 completed and passed the first scheduled explosive event of full ship shock trials.
“Testing, and analysis to ensure the ship is hardened to withstand battle conditions, and these shock trials provide data used in validating the shock harness of the ship,” the Navy said.
Images and video footage show an enormous burst of water shooting up from the ocean in ordinance with the 40,000-pound (18,144-kg) blast.
The US Geological Survey (USGS) said the explosion measured the seismic impact some 100 miles off the coast of Ponce Inlet, a town south of Daytona Beach.
On Twitter, some were worried about the impact on “dolphins, whales and untold numbers of other sea creatures” that might have been “killed or seriously injured for hundreds of miles from the test area.”
Capt. Paul Lanzilotta, Ford commanding officer, told USNI news in March that the crew had been busy preparing for the blasting.
“They need to practice their damage control procedures because that’s something that we all need to be good at,” said Lanzilotta. “And when we shock the ship we need to make sure that we have the ship in as ready a condition as we can.”
