An official from the Korea Metrological Administration, South Korea’s weather agency, said the agency believed the quake was caused artificially, based on an analysis of the seismic waves and because it originated 49 kilometers (30 miles) north of Kilju, the northeastern area where North Korea’s main nuclear test site is located.
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The news site Chicago Tribune reported, via the South Korean Newspaper Yonhap News, that the information was “not reliable” about their neighbors being capable to produce the Hydrogen Bomb- a holy grail in Nuclear weaponry.
Seoul denounced Pyongyang’s hydrogen bomb test as a violation of the UN Security Council resolutions.
An estimated explosive yield of 6.0 kilotons and a quake with a magnitude of 4.8 (the US reported 5.1) were detected, lawmaker Lee Cheol Woo said the National Intelligence Service told him.
North Korea hadn’t conducted an atomic explosion since early 2013, and leader Kim Jong Un did not mention the country’s nuclear weapons in his New Year’s speech. Some outside analysts speculated Kim was anxious about deteriorating ties with China, the North’s last major ally, which has shown greater frustration at provocations and a possible willingness to allow stronger United Nations sanctions.
He said his late father and former leader Kim Jong-Il, “turned the DPRK into a powerful nuclear weapons state ready to detonate a self-reliant A-bomb and H-bomb to reliably defend its sovereignty and the dignity of the nation”. Afghan News Agency on Twitter, become a fan on Facebook.
The secretive North, already under heavy U.N., European Union and USA sanctions for its missile and nuclear tests, said earlier that it had successfully tested a hydrogen nuclear bomb.
The country added that it would continue to strengthen its nuclear programme in order to protect itself against the hostile policies of the United States.
Meanwhile in the United States, the White House was cautiously monitoring North Korea’s announcement.
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Zerbo urged North Korea to refrain from further nuclear testing and join the 183 states who have signed the treaty.
