New Nuclear Test in North Korea?

According to just recently published news reports, on Wednesday, January 6th, 2016, there has been a large “man-made” disturbance in the north-eastern part of North Korea. As the various media reports note, “

The USGS said the disturbance occurred 19 kilometers (12 miles) east-northeast of Sungjibaegam at about 9:30 a.m. local time.

In South Korea, the meteorological agency said the “man-made” event registered magnitude 4.3.

China Earthquake Networks Center in Beijing is describing the event as a “suspected explosion.”

The event is near the site of a 2013 underground nuclear test.

According to other reports that were published, “North Korean state media has said a “special, significant” announcement will be made shortly. North Korea is thought to have conducted three underground tests since 2006, all at the Punggye-ri site. The new tremor was detected about 50km (30 miles) from Punggye-ri at a depth of about 10km, according to the US Geological Survey” (BBC, 2016).

While it has not yet been confirmed as to whether this is was a nuclear test that was conducted in North Korea, it is, and will continue to be important to keep monitoring the situation, and see whether the current event that just took place relates to North Korea and nuclear weapons.

Update (January 6th, 2015).

In an update to this story, CNN reported that North Korea did test an H-Bomb.