A 3.2-magnitude earthquake struck North Korea on Sunday, according to reports from South Korea.
The weather agency said that the quake appears to be natural, and not caused by nuclear weapons tests.
“Artificial quakes from explosions create sound waves, but there were not [sic] sound waves detected this time,” a KMA official told Yonhap. “It’s also far from North Korea’s nuclear test area.”
The earthquake took place at 8:07 p.m. local time and had a depth of about 4 miles, KMA said.
The North’s pursuit of nuclear weapons has been cause of much concern for the United States and its allies. The U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said recently that the threat posed by North Korea is growing.
“We all need to be very sober and clear-eyed about the current situation ... We have to recognize that the threat is growing and if North Korea does not chose the pathway of engagement, discussion, negotiation, then they themselves will trigger an option,” Tillerson said at the conclusion of a foreign ministers’ summit in Vancouver in mid January, Reuters reported.
“Our approach is, in terms of having North Korea choose the correct step, is to present them with what is the best option–talks are the best option; that when they look at the military situation, that’s not a good outcome for them,” he said.
