NationStates Jolt Archive

Evil Woody Thoughts Ministry of Defence Official Press Release

At 0400 hours GMT, Evil Woody Thoughts successfully detonated four Seismic ICBMs on four seperate uninhabited islands. These weapons are designed as a far more powerful, nonradioactive alternative to nuclear weapons, and trigger massive earthquakes upon detonation.

Before the detonations, we placed several underwater digital seismometers within 50 kilometres of the planned detonation sites, so we would be able to measure the energy output of these weapons. The detonations triggered earthquakes on a scale seldom seen in nature; data for each test site, with the strength of the earthquakes recorded in the Richter scale, appears below.

Test Site 1: 8.97
Test Site 2: 9.06
Test Site 3: 9.04
Test Site 4: 9.23 (This test site was within 100 km of a known fault line; this will amplify the effect.)

If the above data seems too close together, keep in mind that the Richter scale is logarithmic. Our geologists have calculated that on average, these detonations have released in excess of 1,600 times the energy that a 300 kt nuclear warhead would upon its detonation.

Initial geologic surveys of the detonation sites have revealed that these detonations caused cracks to appear in the Earth's crust at a depth of 19,000-28,000 feet, as well as cracks from 1,000 to 6,000 feet below the Earth's surface. The cracks were larger at Test Site 4, probably due to proximity to a fault line. Our geologists surmise that launching a large number of Seismic ICBMs at the same region could permanantly alter that region's topography through the formation of mountains and such.

These weapons are expensive, costing approximately $450,000,000 USD to manufacture a single unit. This is approximately six and a half times the cost of making a Peacekeeper ICBM, but we feel the costs are well worth it, due to a combination of more destructive power and the ability to deploy these weapons in large number without fear of a worldwide nuclear winter. For roughly fifty years we have researched peaceful uses of applied geology and volcanology; however, due to increasing worldwide tensions, we felt compelled to militarise this technology to serve as a deterrent to any warmongering nations who might launch a few "stray" missiles at us. We pray we do not have to deploy this weapon, but nations who see us as a potential target are advised that we will not hesitate to deploy it. For nations that leave us alone, you can rest assured that this weapon will not be used against you.

We will be manufacturing approximately forty to fifty Seismic ICBMs annually. This weapon is not, nor will it ever be, for sale. Also, the Ministry of Defence has recently submitted its first-ever $1 trillion USD operating budget request to Parliament; Parliament is expected to render a decision shortly.

Ministry of Defence

The Evil Hippie Empire of Evil Woody Thoughts
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OOC: Authorization of Research into Seismic ICBMs, with links to previous research (http://forums2.jolt.co.uk/showthread.php?t=379834)

OOC 2: The "1,600 times more powerful than a 300 kt nuke" is not godmodding. I mathematically calculated the energy released from a 9.0 quake and compared it to the energy released by a 300 kt nuke, and came up with 1,590 times as much energy released. I used formulas and tables from the following sources:

Earthquake Formulas (http://earthsci.org/teacher/basicgeol/earthq/earthq.html)

Nuclear Weapon Detonations (http://nuclearweaponarchive.org/Nwfaq/Nfaq12.html)

After three years of legal wrangling, the Ministry of Defence is pleased to announce that it has loosened many budgetary restrictions and finally has some degree of control over how it spends its appropriations. The Parliament further awarded us a budget of $1,020,247,236,875 USD, filling in some of the backlog from the $990 billion budgets of the last few years. This marks the first trillion-dollar military defence budget in Evil Woody Thoughts' history.

Production of seismic ICBMs shall increase from 40 to 55 per year. We disclose our current stockpile at 110 missles.

Admiral Douglass
Chief of Staff
Ministry of Defence
The Evil Hippie Empire of Evil Woody Thoughts

(OOC: Sorry for the crap post, but I'm tired, I have to get up in an hour, so there's no point in going to bed. Basically an IC bump before I go off for Christmas break)

Both OOC and IC: Fascinating. Novel, too.

OOC: How does it cause an earthquake?

Hello. I was wondering, how much would one of these cost?

Michele Gincarelli
CEO
KSC Enterprises, Inc.

Hello. I was wondering, how much would one of these cost?

Michele Gincarelli
CEO
KSC Enterprises, Inc.

These weapons were actually quickly adapted from peacetime geological research during a world war between AMF and the RWC, during which time we wanted to make sure that no "stray" n00ks or armies found their way into Evil Woody Thoughts. The threat of using them has already averted one war that would have expended the lives of our citizens.

We do not trust other nations with these weapons, as many nations in NS are at least somewhat imperialistic. Hence, they are not for sale. Not even to allies. Much less a new nation upon which a background check is more or less pointless.

Ministry of Defence

The Evil Hippie Empire of Evil Woody Thoughts
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OOC: While these weapons are not for sale, a few nations will sell nuclear weapons to well-established nations (i.e. those with at least 100 million people and a reasonably stable economy, preferably 150+ million). But by this point, it might be easier to RP nuclear research yourself. :)

OOC: How does it cause an earthquake?

By highly specialized, mucho expensive explosives, the details of which remain classified. We have spent most of our existence as a nation researching geology, so we have a few tricks up our sleeves.

Ministry of Defence

The Evil Hippie Empire of Evil Woody Thoughts

OOC: If you follow the links in this thread, my sig, and the links in the links in my sig, you will be able to find the initial research RPs, which are more detailed than this.

OOC: My question was clearly marked OOC, so I dont see the need for an IC responce, and the other threads dont seem to detail how it works either... do you actually know how it works (I only want to know in case anyone tries to attack me with one of these)?

OOC: My question was clearly marked OOC, so I dont see the need for an IC responce, and the other threads dont seem to detail how it works either... do you actually know how it works (I only want to know in case anyone tries to attack me with one of these)?

OOC: Originally, it worked by detonating what is basically a nonradioactive nuke (kind of an oxymoron, but then again, I'm postmodern :D ) tens of thousands of feet below the Earth's surface, where crust meets mantle. (Of course, I had to do lots of drilling to get down that far.) The shock waves from the explosion would generate a massive earthquake powerful enough to bring magma up to the surface and create a new volcano. Originally, this was researched to reclaim land.

After AMF and RWC started going after each other, I quickly poured a giant chunk of my then-rapidly increasing defense budget into adapting this for surface detonations, so I could put this in an ICBM and use it for deterrence. As I'm the only nation with this stuff, if you don't ICly provoke me, there's nothing to worry about. ;)

No, I don't know of an explosive that can do this IRL (well, not one that doesn't emit radiation afterwards, anyway). My scientists had to invent it. That has something to do with why I spent twenty NS years simply RPing the intial research.

What I do know is that detonating one of these would essentially mirror a natural 9.0 quake, and detonations of more than one missile (like if I was to launch 500 to overwhelm an ABM system) would probably result in newly created, permanant fault lines. I'm not a geologist IRL; I just thought that it would be kind of cool to have a nation that could mold the Earth's crust to its will. :)

I've toyed around with the idea of modifying ICBMs so they can slow down before detonation and detonate underwater, thereby allowing me to create tsunamis. The advantage is it would allow me to bypass some ABM defenses by detonating hundreds of miles offshore, but it could easily get shot down by AA fire right before splashdown, because it would have to deploy a parachute or something to slow down to 20 mph. The missle would, of course, drop the parachute and reignite after splashdown. This would also have interesting effects if someone tried to invade me and I timed the launch just right (drown the invading soldiers while they're still on the beach). But I haven't taken it this far yet.