TV news report about North Korea' earthquake at a train station in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday : photos Associated Pre...
TV news report about North Korea' earthquake at a train station in Seoul, South Korea, on Saturday : photos Associated Press.
A very powerful earthquake of 6.5-magnitude detected in northern part of North Korea, today on Saturday 23 September,2017 afternoon, near the nation’s known nuclear test site, according to the U.S. Geological Survey. The tremor originated at 5:29 p.m. about 12 miles southeast of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site, in Kilju “This event occurred in the area of the previous North Korean Nuclear tests,” the USGS said on its website. “We cannot conclusively confirm at this time the nature (natural or human-made) of the event.” The earthquake-monitoring agency in neighboring China said it suspected that the North Korean quake, which occurred at 3:59 p.m. local time, was caused by an explosion, though the magnitude was significantly lower than a previous nuclear test earlier this month. The USGS estimated the depth of Saturday’s quake to be five kilometers (three miles). But
South Korea’s meteorological agency said the incident appeared to be a natural quake.
Chinese seismologists said the activity was most likely caused by an explosion, but the United States Geological Survey said it was too early to say whether the cause was natural or artificial. The South Korean seismology agency said the quake was probably natural, and the North Korea did not immediately issue a statement or say that one was coming, as it has done when conducting previous tests. The three agencies gave varying estimates for the magnitude of the earthquake: the Americans, 3.5; the Chinese, 3.4; and the South Koreans is also varied.