North Korea tested its sixth Nuclear Test on September 3, and claimed that it was an H-bomb. The underground test shook the mountains resulting in an earthquake, and according to experts, the bomb was several times more powerful than the US atomic bomb that destroyed Hiroshima, the Japanese city, in 1945.

Mild tremors of 2.9 and 2.4 magnitudes have been felt even now, and they originated near the Punggye-ri nuclear test site as confirmed by the US Geological Survey.

Daily Mail UK reports that, in the opinion of the Vienna-based Comprehensive Nuclear-Test-Ban Treaty executive, secretary Lassina Zerbo, the nature of these tremors fall into the category of aftershocks.

Surrounding areas damaged

North Korea tested the H-bomb inside an underground tunnel located in the mountains near its north-west. The test had, reportedly, led to the collapse of a portion of the tunnel soon after the test and there were human casualties also apart from damage to the environment. It is difficult to verify these because the country maintains strict secrecy about its activities and there are restrictions on entry and movement of outsiders.

Unofficial sources in South Korea believe that Pyongyang could be working on alternate tunnels to carry out further nuclear tests but are wary of the presence of a nearby active volcano which is considered to be a sacred site by the communist nation.

Kim Jong-un had visited the site recently.

Normalcy must return

Pyongyang has been carrying out nuclear tests regularly and has continued to pursue its ambitions of joining the elite group of nuclear powers in spite of global sanctions. Kim Jong-un, the leader of North Korea, should now take a bow. He has threatened to nuke the United States and has identified a few probable targets.

He has also detonated an H-bomb in a tunnel and such a bomb, if detonated high up in in the atmosphere, would be catastrophic. It would affect the whole world, including countries in the Korean peninsula. Hiroshima is an example of the devastation that can result from a nuclear bomb, and another similar catastrophe must be avoided.

The United States has positioned its warships nearby and has conducted military drills with its allies which have not gone down well with North Korea. The world leaders must make concentrated efforts to bring normalcy back to the region because a direct confrontation with nuclear weapons is not a desirable situation. It will lead to loss of lives and properties, apart from irreparable damages to the environment that would take decades to recover.