satellite images of Ryongchon . . . pre- and post-explosion . . .

[OneBlueSky]

click on arrow to see what what the area looked like after the explosion . . . amazing, and devastating . . .

http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/dprk/ryongchon-imagery_comp01.htm

[MikeG]

1. I don't want to hear anymore that they can't find Bin Ladin.

[nostamj]

2. has there been an updated death toll?

last I heard it was only 160.

based on this, they're missing a '0' at least...

[PragMantisT]

3. Pretty devastating

but where was the epicenter of the explosion? It doesn't look like an explosion that devastated in a radial fashion. Looks like the high rises were the epicenter.

Ever seen clear and present danger? Explosions are radial, missiles linear.

[Old and In the Way]

6. My thoughts exactly........this is not the event that was initially

reported.

The train tracks appear to be intact and some of the buildings are still standing. Fuel air bomb that leveled the wooden buildings?

[Devils Advocate NZ]

4. Anybody but me wondering why they had commercial satellite..

images of Ryongchon from before the explosion? Who would have paid for such pictures to be taken, and why? Not to mention that this image is aimed straight at the explosion, as if they knew what was coming...

[Joanne98]

5. Now that's an interesting thought.

Sounds like a good trail to follow. It's too bad we don't have a free press.

[Old and In the Way]

7. I suspect that the entire country is completely mapped.

I'm not nearly as surprised with the images as I am with the results....I expected to see a huge crater with the destruction centered on the railroad tracks....looks to me that whatever happened, it was not centered around the trains.

[LizW]

8. I don't know, but there are satellite images of

EVERYTHING.

I've seen images of my street on the Internet, with my house clearly visible and my car parked in front.

[ElsewheresDaughter]

9. "terra maps" here...you can see your house...i can see me standing in my

driveway...enjoy

http://terraserver.microsoft.com/

[Yavonne]

11. That is just too spooky.

I can see the shed my father built.

[newyawker99]

12. Hi Yavonne!!

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

[ElsewheresDaughter]

15. Yavonne welcome to DU! hope you like it here...tons of good people here

with all kinds of links and info...:hi:

[ACLYouth]

14. Many commercial satellite images...

Come from declassified military images. The US satellite recon program covers every square inch of the DPRK on a near-daily basis. As for the images being "aimed" at the explosion, satellites take pictures in a "strip" pattern. As the satellite orbits over an area, a piece of film in a very long strip is scanned past the lens, producing a long, continuous image. The commercial company just took the long strip image and cropped it to size and area. Hopefully my explanation will dispell any :tinfoilhat: ideas about the satellite images. I do get the feeling that this was a failed assassination attempt on Kim Jong Il, though, as he went through the area a matter of hours before the incident.

[No2W2004]

10. interesting

this just does not look right. Why are the tracks not only intact, but trains are on them. Notice at the top of the picture where a dirt field becomes several rows of little white squares. Mass graves?

[OpelGT]

17. interesting

I'm guessing those white items are tents. As far as tracks being intact, it would certainly be possible, especially if they are not elevated. Think of a railroad crossing with the tracks just below pavement level for your car to drive over. Tracks like that would be almost completely shielded from the blast. Surely though, the rails that carried to two trains which exploded would be destroyed, but there are several sets of tracks there. Also, tracks can be repaired pretty quickly, so any that were damaged could have been fixed by the time the post- image was taken, which is possible, but would depend on how long it took for an imaging satellite to have an overhead pass to view that area.

[RememberWellstone]

13. Could this be a dirty bomb?

I can see there is no crater...but, would'nt a radiant type bomb blow more debris sideways? just wondering. This whole thing stinks to high heaven. I will bet the monkey administration had something to do with this. Probably to scare the N. Koreans. Call me crazy, but they DID have something to do with Paul's death.

[AngryAmish]

16. I just looked up my house

I think I need to mow the lawn.