North Korea has conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test to date, and for some late last night it was just two words from an expert that broke the news.
Steven Gibbons works as a seismologist who monitors evidence of nuclear testing. Here’s what he tweeted in the early hours this morning.
oh fuck
— Steven J. Gibbons (@stevenjgibbons) September 3, 2017
Quite.
Naturally, this statement wasn’t what people wanted to hear from an expert on nuclear weapons.
Is it a good sign when a nuclear testing seismologist tweets "oh fuck" in the middle of the night? https://t.co/wcLKzwhbKG
— Palmer Report (@PalmerReport) September 3, 2017
People you do NOT want to hear say "oh fuck":1) a trauma surgeon2) a seismologist monitoring underground nuclear explosions https://t.co/UknkYvRU0I
— Doc Bastard (@DocBastard) September 3, 2017
In fact, it sounds like most people were looking for something a little more reassuring.
Good morning everyone! Let's do our regular morning routine of seeing what seismologists who monitor nuclear explosions are saying today! https://t.co/jjS9I149Oe
— Tom Phillips (@flashboy) September 3, 2017
Siri, shown me a nuclear test seismologist tweeting something reassuring please https://t.co/yQkWcsVU1B
— James Felton (@JimMFelton) September 3, 2017
Oh dear.
Others were hoping Gibbons was just talking about something else.
Please let the follow up to this be "I spilled coffee on my sweet new mechanical keyboard."
— Woody Hansen (@woodyaz) September 3, 2017
— Brian Tesch (@TheRealTesch) September 3, 2017
In the end, the news came through that a test was indeed carried out at 12.29pm local time at the Punggye-ri site where North Korea has conducted nearly all of its past nuclear tests.
Gibbons released a graph showing the size of the earthquake caused by the blast, as measured on the Richter scale.
#Seismic signals to the same scale on the NORSAR array in Norway inc. the 6th and largest declared #DPRK #nucleartest 03/09/2017 #NorthKorea pic.twitter.com/0CtBPrkB3J
— Steven J. Gibbons (@stevenjgibbons) September 3, 2017
The artificial earthquake triggered by the detonation was several times stronger than from previous blasts and reportedly shook buildings in China and Russia.
Officials in Seoul put the magnitude of the quake at 5.7 while the US Geological Survey said it was 6.3.
Prime Minister Theresa May has said the test poses an “unacceptable further threat to the international community”, and has urged world leaders to increase pressure on Pyongyang.