North Korea has been rocked by a 3.4 magnitude earthquake sparking fears the nuclear-obsessed nation may be testing more missiles.
The tremor was detected in the Kilju area in the North Hamgyong province by the South Korean meteorological agency and China’s official Xinhua News Agency.
The earthquake was detected at 8.30am GMT at a depth of zero miles, with the Chinese news agency saying it was a ‘suspected explosion’.
Recent tremors coming from within North Korea have been due to Kim Jong-un’s nuclear tests, the latest of which was earlier this month.
North Korea has carried out at least six nuclear tests and there are fears the tremor in North Korea could potentially be the seventh
The quake detected today was near one of communist state’s nuclear test sites and is roughly the same magnitude as the September 3 earthquake, which turned out to be a nuclear test.
The head of nuclear test monitoring agency CTBTO said analysts were pouring over the ‘unusual seismic activity of a much small magnitude’ in North Korea.
Yet South Korea’s weather agency claimed they believed the quake may have been a natural earthquake.
It comes amid growing tensions between the US and North Korea, with Donald Trump using his inaugural speech at the UN earlier this week to take aim at Kim Jong-un and his reckless arms race.
Kim Jong-un released a statement following Donald Trump’s address to the UN General Assembly, and his nation has openly admitted it will continue to test more nuclear weapons
President Trump urged the international community to take a tougher stance against Pyongyang and issued a stern warning that the US would retaliate and ‘totally destroy’ North Korea if it were to launch an attack on America or its allies.
The Republican also launched a stinging personal attack on Kim, labelling him a ‘rocket man on a suicide mission’.
Despite Trump’s warnings, North Korea vowed it would continue to progress its bid to become a fully-fledged nuclear state, and has openly admitted it plans to test a hydrogen bomb in the Pacific Ocean.
North Korea’s top diplomat said the country planned to test the bomb to fulfill Kim Jong Un’s vow to take the ‘highest-level of hard-line countermeasure in history’ against the US.
Kim confirmed his nuclear program was on the ‘correct path’ this week.
‘His remarks… have convinced me, rather than frightening or stopping me, that the path I chose is correct and that it is the one I have to follow to the last,’ Kim Jong-un said in a statement.
He called Mr Trump ‘mentally deranged’ and said the US President’s comments were ‘the most ferocious declaration of war in history’.
‘I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire,’ Kim said in the rare direct statement, referring to Trump.
‘He has made unprecedented rude nonsense one has never heard from any of his predecessors.
‘A frightened dog barks louder.’
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