Source of earthquake near North Korean nuclear test site unclear
China called quake ‘suspected explosion’, while South said it appeared to be natural
China’s earthquake administration said on Saturday it had detected a magnitude 3.4 earthquake in North Korea that was a “suspected explosion”, raising fears the isolated state had conducted another nuclear bomb test. But South Korean officials said the tremors appeared to be natural.
The administration said in a statement on its website that the quake, which occurred around 4.29pm, was recorded at a depth of 0km.
Previous quakes from North Korea have indicated nuclear tests by the reclusive state, the most recent earlier this month.
The earthquake also came after days of increasingly bellicose rhetoric between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s government over Pyongyang’s nuclear ambitions that has raised international alarm.
The earthquake was detected in Kilju county in North Hamgyong Province, where North Korea’s known Punggyeri nuclear site is located, according to South Korea’s meteorological agency.