Press. voanews.com
An artificial
earthquake caused by a North Korean nuclear test in September reportedly caused
buildings to collapse and killed scores of people, including schoolchildren,
South Korean media reported this week. On Sept. 3, North Korea conducted its
sixth nuclear test, successfully detonating a hydrogen bomb — one that could
fit onto an intercontinental missile (ICBM).
The blast
produced two shallow earthquakes in the Punggye-ri region, where North Korea's
nuclear test facility is located, U.S. and Chinese government seismologists
reported at the time. Authorities in Japan, South Korea and numerous
nongovernment experts in the United States confirmed that the earthquakes were
likely the result of a nuclear test.
Nearby village
badly damaged
An unnamed
source, who recently visited a village about 8 kilometers from Punggye-ri,
described the damage to the South and North Development (SAND), a research
institute that works with defectors from the North, according to the South
Korean newspaper Chosun Ilbo.
The source said
houses and a school collapsed in the village of Sindong-ri and that dozens of
people were killed and injured, the paper reported.
"September
3 was a Sunday, but some 150 students were waiting in their classrooms to do
some work," the source said, according to Chosun Ilbo. "Casualties
occurred when half of the school building crumbled."
After the
detonation in September, the first earthquake was a 6.3-magnitude tremor that
was consistent with the detonation of a 1-megaton hydrogen bomb, according to
experts. Five minutes later, the same seismologists detected a magnitude-4.6
earthquake, which indicated the likely collapse of a tunnel in which the
nuclear device was placed.
In October,
Japanese television channel Asahi TV reported the collapse of an underground
tunnel at the Punggye-ri nuclear facility, saying it likely caused the death of
about 200 people.
Harvest delays
repairs
In the village
affected by the earthquakes, the source told SAND that the damage to buildings
had yet to be repaired because farmers were busy with the harvest.
"Farmers
couldn't even think of repairing the damage because they're busy harvesting
crops even though three months have passed since their houses were
destroyed," the source said, as reported by Chosun Ilbo. "Displaced
farmers are staying in temporary shelters or living with neighbors whose houses
sustained less damage."
The Washington
Post reported in October that experts feared Mount Mantap, the 2,195-meter-high
peak under which the tests are conducted, was suffering from "tired
mountain syndrome," and could collapse, releasing radiation from the
nuclear explosions.
North Korean
leader Kim Jong Un has prioritized developing a nuclear-tipped ICBM that could
hit mainland U.S. Before the Sept. 3 nuclear test, Pyongyang had conducted 21
missile launches this year, including two ICBM tests in July.
The rogue nation
last launched a missile Sept. 15, from the Sunan district in Pyongyang. It flew
over the northern Japanese island of Hokkaido and landed in the sea.
North Korea
conducted its first nuclear test Oct. 9, 2006.
Brian Padden in Seoul contributed to this report.
https://www.voanews.com/a/report-says-north-korea-september-quake-killed-dozens/4137033.html
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