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Unusual seismic event detected in DPRK: CTBTO

Xinhua, January 6, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Preparatory Commission for the Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty Organization (CTBTO) detected an unusual seismic event Wednesday close to the 2013 third nuclear test site in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), the organization said in a statement Wednesday.

"Our monitoring stations picked up an unusual seismic event in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea today at 0130 GMT," the CTBTO said.

The CTBTO has built many detecting stations worldwide which monitor seismic events caused by a nuclear bomb or earthquake.

The DPRK said it successfully conducted a miniaturized hydrogen nuclear device on Wednesday. It may be the fourth nuclear test conducted by the country.

Technically, the CTBTO has still not confirmed whether it is a nuclear test yet, but scientists are analyzing the event.

"If confirmed as a nuclear test, this act constitutes a breach of the universally accepted norm against nuclear testing; a norm that has been respected by 183 countries since 1996," the CTBTO said.

The DPRK is not a member state of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), therefore there are no UN nuclear inspectors in the country who could monitor its nuclear activities. Endi