Tests back-fired?

THE French have never had it so bad.
Roundly criticised for having gone
ahead with the nuclear testing inspile of
a barrage of criticisms from most countries, they are now being for blamed for
the violent eruption of Mount Ruapehu
in New Zealand.

The eruption which started on
September 25, could have occured
because of the French and Chinese
nuclear tests, alleges Eoin Cameron, a
liberal party member in Australia. The
180 nuclear detonations carried out by
France in South Pacific in the last
30 years must have had an effect on the
earth's crust, reasons Cameron. The
recent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions in Montserrat could also have
occured due to the underground tests.

But seismologists immediately
denounced this theory saying that
earthquakes and volcanoes are the
work of nature. Further, the far-off
island of Indonesia too suffered an
earthquake measuring 5.4 on the
Richter scale recently.