The area around North Korea's nuclear test base may be destabilized after recent tremors and landslides, Reuters reported, and experts say it may not be used for tests much longer.
A small, magnitude 2.7 tremor took place near the Punggye-ri nuclear site, according to South Korea's weather agency, and it did not appear to be man-made, like two others since Pyongyang's powerful Sept. 3 nuclear test. That test was measured with a magnitude of 6.3.
"The explosion from the Sept. 3 test had such power that the existing tunnels within the underground testing site might have caved in," said Kim So-gu, head researcher at the Korea Seismological Institute. "I think the Punggye-ri region is now pretty saturated. If it goes ahead with another test in this area, it could risk radioactive pollution."
A Washington-based monitor of North Korea has also detected numerous landslides throughout the site, more than after any previous test.