About this Event
The talk will have a hybrid form: in-person at Imperial College, London and broadcasted ONLINE.
Link to the webinar will be provided via e-mails to registered attendees: first e-mail will be sent two days before the event and the second one just 2 hours before the event. Do not register too late!
Lecture Room G38 (Royal School of Mines, Ground floor)
Agenda (UK time)
18:30-18:35 Introduction and Announcements of EAGE events
18:35-19:15 Forensic Seismology at AWE Blacknest: From Past to Present
19:15-19:30 Q&A
from 19:30 Festive DRINKS at Queen’s Arms, SW7 5QL, 30 Queens Gate Mews
Presenter
Dr Chris Ogden
Seismologist, Atomic Weapons Establishment
Chris Ogden holds a Ph.D. in Seismology and has worked as a seismologist at AWE Blacknest for three years with his research primarily focussed on identifying the sources of seismic signals recorded by seismometers around the globe. Prior to joining AWE Blacknest, Chris worked as a postdoctoral researcher at both Imperial College London and the University of Leicester where his research used receiver function techniques to understand the structure and composition of the Earth's crust beneath Ethiopia, Kenya, Turkey, Cyprus and Zambia.
Talk outline
Forensic Seismology - the application of seismological science to elucidate doubtful questions in a court of justice - has been undertaken at AWE Blacknest for over 65 years. Throughout this time, members of the forensic seismology team have been at the cutting edge of seismological research, as well as playing key roles in the formation of the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Organisation's (CTBTO) International Monitoring System, which forms the backbone of global nuclear-test-ban monitoring. More recently, signals coinciding with the media-reported Nord Stream gas pipeline leaks in the western Baltic Sea have provided a valuable opportunity to investigate and characterise seismic events originating from unusual sources. In this talk, Chris will take us through a history of forensic seismology at AWE Blacknest, before moving onto his own research which used moment tensor methods to investigate and identify the nature of seismic events near the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) nuclear test site. For 27 seismic events catalogued in the CTBTO's International Data Centre Late Event Bulletin, the moment tensor method is able to discriminate between the suite of announced nuclear tests performed by the DPRK (2006-2017), and presumed earthquakes and mine-blasts.
UK Ministry of Defence @ Crown owned copyright 2026/AWE
Event venue & nearby stays
Royal School of Mines, Imperial College, London, United Kingdom
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