BREAKING: 'Artificial' earthquake detected in North Korea - reports

Apparently man-made seismic activity has been detected in North Korea, South Korean Yonhap news agency reported. The United States Geological Survey confirms a 4.9 magnitude earthquake at a depth of exactly one kilometer in North Korea's northeast.

The news comes as world governments have been anticipating new nuclear testing in the secretive state after Pyongyang's January declaration that it would undergo a third nuclear test despite warnings of "consequences" from the UN Security Council.

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http://rt.com/news/north-korea-artificial-earthquake-981/

(CNN) -- The U.S. Geological Survey reported a seismic disturbance in northern North Korea on Tuesday, centered near the site of the secretive regime's two previous nuclear tests.

The area around the reported epicenter of the 4.9-magnitude disturbance has little or no history of earthquakes or natural seismic hazards, according to U.S. Geological Survey maps. The disturbance took place at a depth of about 1 kilometer, the USGS said.

There were no initial reports concerning the activity on the North's state-run Korean Central News Agency on Tuesday.

The reclusive, Stalinist state announced last month that it planned a new nuclear test and more long-range rocket launches, all of which it said were part of a new phase of confrontation with the United States.

U.S. analysts say North Korea's first bomb test, in October 2006, produced an explosive yield at less than 1 kiloton (1,000 tons) of TNT. A second test in May 2009 is believed to have been about two kilotons, National Intelligence Director James Clapper told a Senate committee in 2012.

By comparison, the bomb the United States dropped on Hiroshima in 1945 was a 15-kiloton device.

In May 2012, North Korea said it had amended its constitution to formally proclaim itself a "nuclear state."

http://www.cnn.com/2013/02/11/world/asia/north-korea-seismic-disturbance/index.html