Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) said on Wednesday (January 6) that seismic waves emanating from North Korea looked similar to those detected after Pyongyang’s previous nuclear tests.
“Looking at the results, and of course I’m talking about the seismic data, I don’t think there’s a big difference between the past three shakes,” JMA’s Yohei Hasegawa said during a news conference.
North Korea’s state TV on Wednesday announced the reclusive country had successfully conducted a test of a miniaturised hydrogen nuclear device, about an hour after Japan detected a 5.1 magnitude earthquake near North Korea’s known nuclear test site.
North Korea, under U.N. sanctions for its nuclear and missile programmes, has so far conducted three nuclear tests – in 2006, 2009 and 2013 – all at Punggye-ri, near the location of Wednesday’s earthquake.
Japanese people on the streets of Tokyo expressed their dismay at the hostile neighbour continuous provocations.
“Stop doing it for God’s sake; I have no other words to say,” 48-year-old businessman Goro Yamazaki said.
Another Japanese man said he was more angry than surprised.
“Actually I was not that surprised as we all knew that it would come sooner or later, but it did renew my feelings of indignation towards North Korea’s conduct,” 66-year-old business consultant Yuji Iwasaki said.
One woman urged the Japanese government to avoid responding to the provocation.
“They’re trying to gather attention from us to prove their existence to the world, but I think Japan should not respond to their demand,” 28-year-old businesswoman Maiko Horie said.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said earlier on Wednesday that Japan absolutely could not tolerate North Korea’s nuclear testing as it posed a threat to its national security. A successful test would mark a significant advance in the isolated state’s strike capabilities. (Reuters)
