North Korea's nuclea­r test site may be suffer­ing from the geolog­ical condit­ion 'Tired Mounta­in Syndro­me'SEOUL: A natural earthquake of magnitude 2.5 occurred Saturday near North Korea’s nuclear test site, the fourth such tremor since the North’s most recent atomic explosion there, South Korean officials said. The micro-quake occurred about 2.7 kilometers (1.7 miles) northeast of Punggye-ri nuclear site in the country’s northeastern province of North Hamgyong, Korea Meteorological Administration said on its website. ” The quake is a natural one and it is believed to have occurred in the aftermath of the sixth nuclear test”, it said. 3.5-magnitude quake rattles North Korea near nuclear test siteMonitors at that time said the nuclear test created an artificial 6.3-magnitude earthquake at the testing site, which South Korean experts said was nearly 10 times more powerful than the 10-kiloton test carried out a year earlier. Tired Mountain Syndrome is a name for the effect of below-ground nuclear blasts on the surrounding rock, which is extensively fractured and becomes increasingly permeable.

Source: The Express Tribune December 02, 2017 09:11 UTC