SEOUL (TIP): North Korea conducted a fifth nuclear test on sept 8, an underground blast that Seoul quickly labelled its “most powerful to date”.

Here are some key questions around the blast and the isolated state’s nuclear programme.

Seismologists detected a powerful artificial earthquake at 0030 GMT Friday, which they said was centred around Punggye-ri, North Korea’s nuclear test site.

South Korea says it believes the quake was caused by the testing of a nuclear device, with a yield of 10 kilotons. That would make it the most powerful of Pyongyang’s five nuclear tests to date. The North Korean leadership says a credible nuclear deterrent is critical to the nation’s survival, claiming it is under constant threat from an aggressive United States.

(AFP)