North Korea may have conducted nuclear test after South detects magnitude-6.3 quake
South Korean media says the tremor was detected in Kilju County, where North Korea's nuclear test site is located.
It comes just hours after North Korea claimed leader Kim Jong-un had inspected the loading of a hydrogen bomb into a new intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM), Pyongyang's state media said.
Some outside experts will doubt the claim to technological mastery, but it will raise already-high worries on the Korean Peninsula.
As part of North Korea's work to build an arsenal of viable nuclear ICBMs that can reach the US mainland, Mr Kim inspected the loading of a "homemade" H-bomb into an ICBM during a visit to the North's Nuclear Weapons Institute.
The state-run Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) said the power of the bomb was adjustable from tens to hundreds of kilotons.
"[It] is a multi-functional thermonuclear nuke with great destructive power, which can be detonated even at high altitudes for super-powerful EMP (electromagnetic pulse) attack according to strategic goals," KCNA said.
KCNA quoted Mr Kim as saying the process would enable "the country to produce powerful nuclear weapons, as many as it wants".
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said he had spoken to US President Donald Trump about the "escalating" situation in North Korea, with both agreeing pressure on the nation must be raised.
North Korea in July conducted its first ever ICBM tests, part of a stunning jump in progress for the country's nuclear and missile program since Mr Kim rose to power following his father's death in late 2011.
The North conducted two nuclear tests last year alone.
The first involved what it claims to have been a hydrogen bomb and the second was its most powerful ever.
Experts and outside governments are sceptical of the hydrogen claim, but it is almost impossible to independently confirm North Korean statements about its highly secret weapons program.
Tensions on the Korean Peninsula have been high since last month when North Korea threatened to launch missiles into the sea near the strategically located US Pacific territory of Guam after Mr Trump said Pyongyang would face "fire and fury" if it threatened the US.
North Korea further raised regional tensions on Tuesday by launching an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan, drawing international condemnation.
The key question is how far North Korea has gotten in efforts to consistently shrink down nuclear warheads so they can fit on long-range missiles.
South Korea's main spy agency has previously asserted that it does not think Pyongyang currently has the ability to develop miniaturised nuclear weapons that can be mounted on ballistic missiles.
Some experts think the North may have mastered this technology.
North Korea is thought to have a handful of rudimentary nuclear bombs and has spent decades trying to perfect a multistage, long-range missile to eventually carry smaller versions of those bombs.
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