From Business Insider

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea says it has conducted a successful hydrogen bomb test, a surprise announcement.

North Korea reportedly detonated the device at the Punggye-ri underground test site in the far northeast, its official Korean Central News Agency said.

A television anchor read a typically propaganda-heavy statement on state TV that said North Korea had tested a “miniaturized” hydrogen bomb, elevating the country’s “nuclear might to the next level” and providing it with a weapon to defend against the United States and its other enemies.

The statement said the test was a “perfect success.”

The test, if confirmed by outside experts, will lead to a strong push for new, tougher sanctions at the United Nations and further worsen already abysmal relations between Pyongyang and its neighbors.

The announcement came hours after South Korean officials detected an “artificial earthquake” near North Korea’s main nuclear testing site on Wednesday.

The U.S. Geological Survey measured the magnitude of the seismic activity at 5.1 on its website. An official from the Korea Meteorological Administration, South Korea’s weather agency, said it believed the earthquake was caused artificially, without elaborating, and originated 49 kilometers (30 miles) north of Kilju, the northeastern area where North Korea’s main nuclear test site is located. The country conducted all three previous atomic detonations there.

The agency measured the magnitude of the seismic activity at 5.1 on its website on Wednesday.

That is the same magnitude as North Korea’s last confirmed nuclear test in February 2013.

“We suspect a man-made earthquake and are analyzing the scale and epicenter of the quake with the geoscience and mineral resource institute of South Korea,” a Korea Meteorological Administration official told Reuters.

South Korean government officials didn’t immediately respond to calls looking to determine whether a nuclear blast or natural earthquake had taken place in the North.

The White House said it could not confirm the claims of a hydrogen-bomb test, but said it is “monitoring and continuing to assess the situation.”

“While we cannot confirm these claims at this time, we condemn any violation of UNSC Resolutions and again call on North Korea to abide by its international obligations and commitments,” said White House National Security Council spokesman Ned Price in a statement.

Japan’s top government spokesman, Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga, told reporters on Wednesday that an earthquake in North Korea may have been a nuclear test, based on past experience, according to Reuters.

The UN Security Council will reportedly hold an emergency meeting on Wednesday to discuss the latest nuclear test from North Korea. 

According to Reuters, the meeting would likely be a closed meeting.

Some experts on Twitter have remained skeptical despite North Korea’s announcement:

A confirmed test would mark another big step toward Pyongyang’s goal of building a warhead small enough to be mounted on a missile capable of reaching mainland America’s shores.

A test would further North Korea’s international isolation by prompting a push for new, tougher sanctions at the United Nations and worsening Pyongyang’s already bad ties with Washington and its neighbors.

Pyongyang is thought to have a handful of crude nuclear weapons. The United States and its allies worry about North Korean nuclear tests because each new blast brings the country closer to perfecting its nuclear arsenal.

IMAGE: http://earthquake.usgs.gov/

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