SEOUL (Reuters) — North Korea is “likely” to have conducted a nuclear test that caused an earthquake near a known testing site in the isolated country, South Korea’s meteorological agency said on Wednesday (January 6).
The United States Geological Survey (USGS) reported a 5.1 magnitude quake that South Korea said was 49 km (30 miles) from the Punggye-ri site where the North has conducted nuclear tests in the past.
“We suspect a man-made earthquake and are analyzing the scale and epicenter of the quake,” a Korea Meteorological Administration official told Reuters by phone.
While the USGS put the depth of the earthquake at 10 km, the South Korean agency said it was near the surface. The earthquake was detected just after 10 a.m. Seoul time (2000 ET).
Japan: There’s possibility that this is a nuclear test
Japan’s top government spokesman said on Wednesday that an earthquake in North Korea may have been a nuclear test, based on past experience.
Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga told reporters the government is gathering and analyzing information on the incident.
“According to the Meteorological Agency this earthquake is not a naturally occuring earthquake, the Japanese government, based on past examples, we believe there is a possibility that this is a nuclear test by North Korea. We have therefore convened the relevent minitries to a gather for a emergency strategy meeting at the Prime minister’s office on the possibly of a North Korean nuclear test,” he said.
North Korea plans major announcement
North Korea will make a “major announcement” at midday on Wednesday after the detection of a possible man-made 5.1 magnitude earthquake near a nuclear site in the isolated nation, South Korea’s Yonhap News Agency said.
The announcement will be at 2230 ET or noon Pyongyang time, according to Yonhap, citing North Korean state television.
The magnitude of the earthquake was “likely because of a nuclear test,” an official at South Korea’s meteorological agency told Reuters.
