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2nd LD Writethru: DPRK's nuke test suspected after artificial quake detected near test site

Xinhua, September 9, 2016 Adjust font size:

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s fifth nuclear test is being suspected after an artificial earthquake was detected at a site where its fourth nuclear test was conducted earlier this year, Yonhap news agency reported on Friday.

South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) was quoted as saying that artificial earthquake waves of magnitude 5.0 were spotted at about 9:30 a.m. (local time) Friday from the DPRK's main Punggye-ri nuclear test site. The JCS is analyzing the details.

According to the European Mediterranean Seismological Centre, a 5.0-magnitude earthquake was spotted. The U.S. Geological Survey saw the tremor as a 5.3-magnitude quake.

A 5.0-magnitude artificial earthquake was recorded when Pyongyang's fourth nuclear test was conducted on Jan. 6 at Punggye-ri where all of the four DPRK underground nuclear tests had been carried out since 2006.

A government source was quoted as saying that the DPRK may have conducted another nuclear test to mark the country's National Day.

There were media reports that Pyongyang had been preparing for its fifth nuclear test ahead of the 68th anniversary on Sept. 9 of the founding of the state.

Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council (NSC) at 11 a.m., the presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said. President Park Geun-hye is in her overseas trip to Laos. Endit