No Nuclear Facilities in the Bukpyeonggang Area... Korea Meteorological Administration Also Says "Natural Earthquake"

Northern Pyeonggang Experienced Earthquakes in 2017 and 2019 as Well

Locations of North Korea's Major Nuclear Facilities. The red circle indicates Pyeonggang, where an earthquake occurred.

On the 11th at 7:45 PM, a magnitude 3.8 earthquake occurred in Pyeonggang, Gangwon, North Korea. The international community has confirmed that there are no nuclear facilities in the Pyeonggang area. The Korea Meteorological Administration (KMA) also analyzed that this earthquake was a 'natural earthquake,' not an 'artificial earthquake' caused by underground explosions or nuclear tests.

According to the Nuclear Threat Initiative (NTI), a U.S. private research organization, there are three locations in North Korea with explosion-related experimental facilities: the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, Yongbyon, and Yeongdeok-dong. These sites are approximately 400 km, 200 km, and 250 km away from Pyeonggang, respectively.

Although nuclear-related facilities are presumed to exist in Pyeongsan and Geumcheon, about 100 km to the left and right of Pyeonggang, as well as in Haegumgang, NTI identifies these as uranium mines and storage facilities unrelated to explosions.

North Korea has conducted six nuclear tests starting with the first on October 9, 2006, followed by tests on May 25, 2009; February 12, 2013; January 6 and September 9, 2016; and September 3, 2017. All nuclear tests were carried out at the Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site.

Additionally, Pyeonggang is a location where natural earthquakes occur intermittently. A magnitude 2.6 earthquake occurred on January 29, 2017, and at that time, the KMA also stated that it was a natural earthquake, not an artificial one caused by nuclear tests or artificial explosions. A magnitude 3.5 earthquake also occurred on September 21 of last year.

It is also assessed that the possibility of North Korea constructing new explosion facilities in the Pyeonggang area to evade international monitoring is low.

After the collapse of the second North Korea-U.S. summit in February last year, then U.S. President Donald Trump said, "We know every inch of that country." John Bolton, former White House National Security Advisor who attended the summit, also emphasized at the time, "We see it unblinkingly."

Current Status of Major North Korean Nuclear Facilities

Meanwhile, the KMA announced that at 7:45:06 PM on the 11th, a magnitude 3.8 earthquake occurred 32 km north-northwest of Pyeonggang, Gangwon, North Korea.

A KMA official said, "It appears to be a natural earthquake," and added, "It is not at a level that would cause concern for domestic damage." The epicenter was located at 38.68 degrees north latitude and 127.18 degrees east longitude.

Initially, the KMA announced a magnitude 4.0 earthquake at 7:45 PM using only the fast-moving P-wave, but six minutes later, it revised the magnitude down to 3.8 and corrected the location.

The maximum seismic intensity recorded by observation equipment in various regions was 2 in Gangwon, Gyeonggi, Seoul, and Incheon. Intensity 2 means a quiet state where only a few people on upper floors of buildings can feel the vibration.

This earthquake is the strongest among those that have occurred this year on the Korean Peninsula and surrounding waters. It is the largest since the magnitude 3.9 earthquake that occurred in Sangju, Gyeongbuk, on July 21 of last year.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.