They say forensic seismology explains the last moments of the Kursk, which sank in the Barents Sea with the loss of all on board. Some senior Russian Navy officers have insisted that the Kursk sank after colliding with a foreign submarine. But the scientists believe a torpedo accident probably caused the disaster. They are Dr Keith Koper and Professor Terry Wallace of the University of Arizona, and Dr Steven Taylor and Dr Hans Gartse of the Los Alamos National Laboratory. One of the Kursk's sister vessels Analysing the seismograms, they say, inclines them to rule out the collision theory.
Underwater explosions are highly efficient producers of seismic signals.
The Kursk seismic data, the authors say, possess features unique to such explosions. Seismic stations recorded two explosions at the time the Kursk sank. The first was clearly recorded at only a few nearby stations. The authors say an earthquake is a very unlikely cause. They consider whether the second explosion was one big event or several smaller ones, possibly including the Kursk's impact on the seabed.