A small earthquake that occurred early on Saturday near North Korea's known nuclear test site was likely a natural quake, South Korea's weather agency said, amid heightened concern about a possible nuclear test by Pyongyang.
A 2.5-magnitude quake shook an area just northeast of North Korea's Punggye-ri nuclear test site at 2:54 a.m. local time (1754 GMT, Friday), the Korea Meteorological Administration of South Korea said.
"It is assessed to be a natural earthquake," the agency said in an advisory. It gave the depth of the tremor at 23 kilometres (14.3 miles).
