Several seismological centers Tuesday detected an earthquake with a magnitude of about 5 magnitude on the Richter scale in northeastern North Korea that could be due to a new nuclear test, according to South Korean news agency Yonhap.
The earthquake was detected near the nuclear test base Punggye-ri, scene of the three nuclear tests that were done so far North Korea, the last one in February 2013.
The Korea Meteorological Administration South (KMA) said the earthquake did not originate naturally, suggesting that responds to a new nuclear test, while the regime of Kim Jong-un has announced that it will make an official announcement at noon local time (03.30 GMT).
According to the United States Geological Survey (USGS) earthquake occurred around 10:00 local time in North Korea (01.30 GMT), he had a magnitude of 5.1 degrees on the open Richter scale and its hypocenter was It stood at 10 kilometers deep.
Published by the USGS coordinates correspond to Kilju County (in North Hamgyong Province), where the base of nuclear tests is Punggye-ri.
Meanwhile, China's seismological center said the quake had a scale of 4.9 magnitude and appears to have been an explosion.
In South Korea, the Foreign Ministry held a meeting to analyze data and find out the exact causes of the incident, while the government has called an emergency meeting of the National Security Council in Seoul.