Volume 9: Molten Mine Chapter 419: Molten Mine
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The Undead Crew gave Ke Lan a total of three days to prepare. During these three days, Ke Lan almost memorized the entire map of the Molten Mine Area - without the latest information, he could only work hard on the existing information.
However, when they arrived at the outskirts of the mining area on the "Yu" class heavy cruiser borrowed from the First Fleet, Ke Lan couldn't help but curse in his heart - the earthquake almost completely changed the topography of the Molten Fire Mine Area. As far as he could see, there was almost no place that could match the original map.
The undulating ground is covered with rifts that look like leaf veins, broken rocks are jagged in half, bright magma is flowing at the bottom of the rifts, and highly toxic sulfur-containing smoke is constantly gushing out from the cracks on the surface and rising into the air.
The sky over the Molten Mine Area is always gray. Looking out of the warship's porthole, the thick lead-gray clouds seem to be pressing down on their heads. The indescribable feeling of oppression makes everyone in the cabin feel a little breathless - of course, this is true. If you enter the mine area without wearing a breathing mask, you will suffocate to death in minutes due to inhaling excessive amounts of toxic fumes.
"Oh my God, the power of this earthquake is too terrifying. The rock strata are cracked like this, looking like biscuits falling on the ground." Layton exclaimed with his face against the porthole.
"The official information I received is that a strong earthquake of magnitude 8 or above was detected in the core area of the mining area..." Ke Lan said.
"This is definitely more than level eight!" The Hound clenched his fists tightly. "This is just the outer area, and it's already been destroyed like this. I think the level of the epicenter is probably above level ten!"
"If it was a magnitude 10 earthquake, the area where the Ark is located would also have felt obvious tremors... But the information we know now is that only a few transfer stations near the mining area felt strong tremors. The farther away from the mining area, the weaker the tremors. The geological experts in our bureau have conducted a detailed analysis and the earthquake intensity will not exceed 8.5 at most." Aya retorted, "As for the serious damage to the surface plates , could it be because there are a lot of tiny cracks in the rock strata of the Molten Mine Area, and this earthquake just widened these cracks?"
This is like two buildings, one is a high-quality building constructed strictly in accordance with earthquake-resistant standards, while the other is a shoddy project built with shoddy materials. When an earthquake occurs, the latter will naturally be damaged more severely than the former.
The geological structure of the Molten Mine Area is probably not even as strong as shoddy construction.
"That makes sense. I've also read the Security Bureau's analysis report, but I've discovered a critical problem." Ke Lan looked at Aya. "Experts said the earthquake intensity would not exceed 8.5 at most, but in fact, 8.5 is a conclusion drawn after exaggerating the actual data. I guess those experts saw the photos taken by the drone and thought that no one would believe it if they reported the intensity too low... But according to the data detected by various transfer stations, the exact intensity of this earthquake should be around 7."
"Magnitude 7? Isn't that too low?" The Hound asked suspiciously, "Ke Lan, look at that mountain. It's been torn apart in the middle. Can a magnitude 7 earthquake do this?"
"Yes, as long as the epicenter is shallow enough." Ke Lan nodded. "The shallower the epicenter, the greater the destructive power to the surface, but the affected area is the smallest. The deeper the epicenter, the farther the seismic waves can be transmitted, and the affected area is larger, but the destructive power to the surface is far less than that of a shallow earthquake of the same magnitude."
"In the old era, China experienced two major earthquakes that killed more than 10,000 people. One was a magnitude 7.8 earthquake, and the other was a magnitude 8.0 earthquake. But in terms of destructive power, the magnitude 7.8 earthquake was more destructive than the magnitude 8.0 earthquake. The reason was that the epicenter was at a different depth. The epicenter of the magnitude 8.0 earthquake was located 14 kilometers underground, while the depth of the magnitude 7.8 earthquake was only half of that, at only 8 kilometers."
(Because of the real place names involved, I will not write the specific names of these two earthquakes directly in the book. I believe that as a member of the descendants of Yan and Huang, you will definitely not forget these two major disasters like me... May the dead rest in peace and the living strive for success.)
"I sent this data to a friend of mine and asked him to contact a group of seismology experts to analyze the data." Ke Lan continued, "I told them not to be bound by common sense and experience, but only to pursue the accuracy of the data without considering whether the data has any practical reference value. Guess what the conclusion was in the end?"
"What is it?" Hound and Aya asked in unison.
"The exact magnitude of the epicenter should be 6.6, and the focal depth... is only 0.9 kilometers."
"0.9 kilometers?! But the epicenter should be a giant magma pool, and the depth of this magma pool is at least more than three kilometers. This is impossible!" Aya said.
"To be honest, I don't think this is an earthquake caused by the movement of the Alpha Plate. Instead, it's more like an underground nuclear explosion..." Ke Lan pondered, "In other words... this is not a natural disaster, but a man-made disaster."
"Nuclear explosion? Where did they get the nuclear bomb?" Zhuo Ligetu asked in some confusion.
"It may not be a nuclear bomb. Perhaps some device left by the Alpha civilization was triggered, just like the glacier ruins we explored before. Half of the glacier sank into the ground. I think it shouldn't be difficult for the Alpha civilization to trigger a 6.6 earthquake in the shallow layer of the surface, right?"
"I understand what you mean!" Hound clenched his right fist and hit the palm of his left hand hard. "In that magma pool, at a depth of 0.9 kilometers, there is a relic of the Alpha civilization. This relic is the culprit of this earthquake!"
"Almost certain." Ke Lan nodded. "But investigating the cause of the earthquake is not our main task. We must first find the lost garrison base and the people in those bases."
"Tsk... This group of people is probably in great danger. This is just the edge of the mining area. There is almost no large intact land. The situation at the garrison base will probably be even worse." The Hound sighed and shook his head.
"At least we have to find the bodies of the dead or alive. Even if there are only a few steel bars and ruins left in the garrison base, we can take some photos and send them back, and that will be considered a mission accomplished."
