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Japan jolted; Korea's 2nd bang?
Published on Wed, Oct 11, 2006 at 07:24, Updated on Wed, Oct 11, 2006 at 11:46 in World section
Tags: North Korea, Nuclear , Washington
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Washington/Tokyo: Capitals from Asia to America were making frantic checks on Wednesday after Japanese broadcaster NHK said North Korea may have conducted another nuclear test, but there was no immediate confirmation that it had.
The US Geological Survey said on Tuesday it had detected a 5.8 magnitude earthquake off the coast off northern Japan and a US official said the temblor appeared to be the source of speculation that North Korea had tested another nuclear device.
The USGS said the quake at 9:58 a.m. Japan time (2358 GMT), was about 200 miles (320 km) northeast of Tokyo, off the northeast coast of Japan's main island of Honshu, at a depth of 18.7 miles (30 km).
The earthquake may have triggered the speculation about a possible nuclear test by North Korea, which neither Japan nor the United States could confirm.
A senior Bush administration official, responding to a reporter's query about a possible second nuclear weapons test in North Korea, said that was apparently a false report.
"I've just been told it was a false alarm, an earthquake," said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity. North Korea announced it had conducted an underground nuclear test on Monday. The possibility of a second North Korean nuclear test was first aired by Japanese national broadcaster NHK.
The report came a day after the reclusive communist state's closest ally, China, joined other powers at the United Nations calling for a tough response to its announcement of a first underground detonation.
Japanese Foreign Minister Taro Aso told a parliamentary panel that Japan had unconfirmed information that Pyongyang might conduct a second test on Wednesday, and NHK said Japanese government sources were checking reports of a tremor in North Korea.
However, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe told the same panel that Japan had no information that a test had been conducted. The White House also said it had no confirmation of a second test, while in Seoul both the president's office and a geoscience official said there was nothing to suggest one had taken place.
Ignoring warnings from its neighbours, the United States and the UN Security Council, North Korea announced on Monday that it had conducted its first-ever nuclear test.
Pyongyang said a US "threat of nuclear war and sanctions" had forced its hand. In Japan, a traditional target of North Korean hostility, Abe pressed on Wednesday for a robust international response to Pyongyang's defiance.
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