From the Associated Press and posted by our media partner at WOOD TV:
TOKYO (AP) — North Korea announced it detonated a thermonuclear device Sunday in its sixth and most powerful nuclear test to date, a big step toward its goal of developing nuclear weapons capable of striking anywhere in the U.S. The North called it a “perfect success” while its neighbors condemned the blast immediately.
Though the precise strength of the blast has yet to be determined, South Korea’s weather agency said the artificial earthquake it caused was five to six times stronger than tremors generated by its previous tests. It reportedly shook buildings in China and in Russia.
The test was carried out at 12:29 p.m. local time at the Punggye-ri site where North Korea has also conducted past nuclear tests. Officials in Seoul put the magnitude at 5.7, while the U.S. Geological Survey said it was a magnitude 6.3. The strongest artificial quake from previous tests was a magnitude 5.3.
North Korea’s state-run television broadcast a special bulletin Sunday afternoon to announce the test. It said leader Kim Jong Un attended a meeting of the ruling party’s presidium and signed the go-ahead order. Earlier in the day, the party’s newspaper ran a front-page story showing photos of Kim examining what it said was a nuclear warhead being fitted onto the nose of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
U.S. President Donald Trump said Sunday on Twitter that the North’s “words and actions continue to be very hostile and dangerous” to the U.S. He called it “a rogue nation which has become a great threat and embarrassment to China, which is trying to help but with little success.”
Click for more on the story courtesy of the Associated Press.