Breaking News on BBC TV: The US Geological Survey has detected a 4.9 earthquake in North Korea, which is not prone to seismic activity. And the “quake” is near their nuclear-testing site. The Beeb is saying South Korean and US officials are tentatively labeling this as the North having gone ahead and conducted a test.
CNN has the top banner, but no details yet.
Expert being interviewed on BBC now. Basically he’s saying you can bet the ranch that this was a nuclear test.
Also mentioned was the fact that tremors from a natural quake are different from those from a nuclear test, and it will take a very short time for the US to analyze those.
China has said before that it would be very displeased with another test. IIRC, they even threatened the North with an aid cutoff.
Meet the new boss, same as the old boss.
CNN story. What does the 1km depth and 4.9 magnitude indicate as to the size of the bomb?
Maybe around 10kt? The 2009North Korean test was measured at 4.52 and estimated yields range from less than 1kt up to 10kt.
The Great Leader!!!
The Great Leader!!!
OMG, hun, wake up!!! It’s the Great Leader!!!
Al-Jazeera is quoting South Korea as estimating it to be 6-7 kilotons.
And this Washington Post story says 10 kilotons - also supposedly from the South Koreans.
Truly too bad it wasn’t a HUGE success and created an earthquake of about 12.8 to pretty much destroy most of the country.
Wikipedia lists the dinosaur killing meteor impact as a 100+ Teraton explosion creating a 12.55 magnitude earthquake, so a 12.8 might be a bit overkill. It is a logarithmic scale after all.
Yeah, I was about to say: I’m pretty sure a 12.8 would mess up a whole lot more than just Korea.
Reminds me of the Onion article from the last time they tested a nuke:
What’s wrong with the Republicans? Why aren’t they sprinting to the microphones to blame Obama? Why isn’t John McCain snarling and grinning at the same time?
I have a suggestion-let the Japanese deal with this. And tell the nitwit in N. Korea: the next test will be met with an “appropriate response”.
Another brilliant example of The Onion publishing comedy that’s better news than the news.
I think the UN should lay into N. Korea with some more harsh language.
Turned on the tube in the middle of the report, but I heard something about Japan claims it’s a smaller bomb and that it’s on purpose, because they need smaller bombs to fit on their rockets.
News reports seem always to discuss the ability to strike Los Angeles or anywhere else on the West Coast, but I keep thinking about Hawaii, which is much closer.
When I read the thread title, all I could think of was “Somebody better call Doc Savage!”
Given that the first North Korean nuclear test took place during the presidency of George W. Bush, that wouldn’t really make much sense. I mean, they could hardly…Well, I mean, it would be blatantly hypocrit–
Yeah, actually, that’s a good question.