Analysts say that seismic activity detected Saturday near the site of North Korea’s Punggye-ri nuclear site may be aftershocks as a result of a nuclear test earlier this month.
Scientists said they believe the activity could have been caused by North Korea’s sixth test of a nuclear weapon on September 3.
Saturday’s activity comes at a time of heightened tensions and name-calling between Washington and Pyongyang over North Korea’s nuclear program.
In a show of force Saturday, US Air Force bombers flew in international airspace over waters east of North Korea. The Pentagon said no other US fighters or bomber aircraft have flown so far north of the Demilitarized Zone off North Korea’s coast in the 21st century.
Also Saturday, the North’s foreign minister said that Trump had made a rocket attack on the US mainland more inevitable by insulting the dignity of North Korea.
“None other than Trump himself is on a suicide mission,” Foreign Minister Ri Yong Ho said during the general debate at the UN General Assembly. “In case innocent lives of the US are harmed because of this suicide attack, Trump will be held totally responsible.”
Quakes near North Korean nuclear site
The first sign Pyongyang has conducted a nuclear test is usually seismic activity, and analysts were working Saturday to determine whether the latest tremors detected near the Punggye-ri nuclear site were natural or man-made.
The Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization, a watchdog group that works to end nuclear testing worldwide, said there were two seismic events Saturday in North Korea, neither of very large magnitude.
The larger one had a 3.4 magnitude, the group’s initial assessment found, which is much smaller than anything declared as a nuclear test in previous years. The group believes both events were likely the result of seismic activity from the September 3 nuclear test.
“This geographical location is a non-seismically active zone. The September 3 event would’ve weakened the zone, which could still have further repercussions, such as radioisotopes coming through possible subsequent cracks which would allow scientists to assess what type of materials were used,” said Lassina Zerbo, the group’s executive secretary.
The Korea Meteorological Administration also cited the possibility that the seismic activity Saturday occurred because of the geological stress from the sixth nuclear test.
The South Korean agency confirmed there were two earthquakes Saturday.
According to its website, the first quake — with a 2.6 magnitude occurred at 12:43 a.m. ET. A second one took place at 4:29 a.m. ET around the same area.
Park Jong-shin, an analyst for the agency, agreed the latest earthquakes could have been closely related to the sixth nuclear test.
“It is assumed that the earthquakes occurred because of North Korea’s latest nuclear test,” Park said.
The US Geological Survey measured a magnitude 3.5 earthquake struck at 4:29 a.m. ET Saturday 22 kilometers (more than 13 miles) east-northeast of Sungjibaegam, North Korea.
It couldn’t say how the seismic activity occurred.
“This event occurred in the area of the previous North Korean nuclear tests. We cannot conclusively confirm at this time the nature (natural or human-made) of the event,” the USGS said.
War of words
The war of words between North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump over Pyongyang’s nuclear program has escalated this week
Earlier this week the foreign minister said his country could test a powerful nuclear weapon over the Pacific Ocean in response to Trump’s threats of military action.
Those remarks came shortly after the North Korean dictator made an unprecedented televised statement, accusing Trump of being “mentally deranged.”
In a rare direct statement, Kim said that Trump would “pay dearly” for the threats, and that North Korea “will consider with seriousness exercising of a corresponding, highest level of hard-line countermeasure in history.”
“I am now thinking hard about what response he could have expected when he allowed such eccentric words to trip off his tongue,” Kim said. “I will surely and definitely tame the mentally deranged US dotard with fire.”
The forceful rhetoric from Pyongyang came after Trump threatened to “totally destroy” North Korea in a speech Tuesday to the General Assembly. Trump tweeted Friday that Kim was “obviously a madman” who would be “tested like never before.”
Fiery rhetoric
North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency published articles Saturday with comments slamming Trump.
One — titled “We will throw the irrational war fanatics of Trump’s gang in the fire of justice” — condemned Trump’s UN speech as “rubbish.”
“Trump, the president of so-called ‘power,’ is mad enough to wag his tongue without any consideration that he would ‘totally destroy’ a sovereign state.”
The article said, “For more than seven decades since the foundation of the UN, no chief executives or diplomats including the preceding US presidents have openly called for the obliteration of another state” at the UN General Assembly.
“Trump’s rubbish is the open declaration of war against our supreme dignity, state, social system and people, and an unpardonable extra-large provocation,” the report said, adding that “the US warmongers will face unimaginable consequences.”
“It is a foolish misjudgment if Trump’s gang thinks that America is safe because it’s far away from the Korean Peninsula.”
“The fire roughnecks who enjoy playing with fire, will die in fire,” the news agency said.
Concerns over nuclear program
North Korea has been working on developing missiles that can reach the United States and its allies and pair them with a miniaturized nuclear warheads.
To comply with a UN Security Council resolution calling for sanctions over North Korea’s nuclear activity, China said Friday that it will limit its exports of refined petroleum products to Pyongyang as well as ban imports of the North’s textiles.
The Chinese Ministry of Commerce said in a written statement that it will restrict exports of refined petroleum products from October 1, and ban the export of condensate oil and liquefied natural gas immediately.
A ban on textile imports from the North will go into effect immediately, the statement said.
US show of force
The Pentagon said Saturday that B-1B Lancer bombers from Guam and F-15C Eagle fighter escorts from Okinawa, Japan, flew in international airspace over waters east of North Korea.
The flight underscored “the seriousness with which we take DPRK’s reckless behavior,” the Pentagon said, using an acronym for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.
“This mission is a demonstration of US resolve and a clear message that the President has many military options to defeat any threat,” Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in a statement.
“North Korea’s weapons program is a grave threat to the Asia-Pacific region and the entire international community. We are prepared to use the full range of military capabilities to defend the US homeland and our allies.”