Aftermath quake rips near North Korean nuke test site

In this Thursday, May 24, 2018 photo, smoke and debris rise in the air as an observation post next to the entrance of the north tunnel at North Korea's nuclear test site is blown up at Punggye-ri, North Hamgyong Province, North Korea. Yonhap

A 2.8 magnitude earthquake took place near North Korea's northeastern nuclear test site Wednesday in an apparent aftermath of the communist country's previous nuclear test, South Korea's weather agency said.

The quake occurred about 11 kilometers east of the Punggye-ri nuclear test site in Kilju, North Hamgyong Province, at 7:20 a.m., the Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) said.

The North carried out its sixth and most powerful nuclear test in the Punggye-ri site in September 2017, causing several induced quakes thereafter.

"The (Wednesday) quake is presumed to have naturally occurred due to the influence of the North's sixth nuclear test," Woo Nam-cheol, a KMA geological analyst, said. (Yonhap)