Shallow 2.6-magnitude earthquake strikes North Korea

Feb. 6 (UPI) -- A 2.6-magnitude earthquake struck an area of North Korea where Pyongyang has been conducting its underground nuclear tests.

South Korea's meteorological agency said Tuesday the earthquake originated from an area about 30 miles north-northwest of Kilju, North Hamgyong Province, and is likely to have been triggered by North Korea's sixth nuclear test conducted Sept. 3, 2017, News 1 reported.

The induced earthquake could be occurring due to the shaking of the ground because of seismic waves that began with the detonation of a North Korea nuclear device, Seoul's agency said.

North Korea's nuclear tests have culminated in heavy sanctions against the Kim Jong Un regime, and South Korea has frequently called for an end to the tests and for North Korea denuclearization.

Seoul has welcomed North Korean athletes to the South ahead of the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympics, but the rapidly moving reconciliation has led to claims in the South Korean press the government may be being too accommodating.

On Tuesday a South Korean spokesman for the presidential Blue House said a report in a local newspaper about North Korea cash demands, in exchange for a nuclear freeze, is false, Kyunghyang Shinmun reported.

Kim Eui-kyum told reporters no one has "sent or received" such a message, and no official at the "Blue House, unification ministry, foreign ministry or the national intelligence service" has received any notices.

Kim requested the newspaper in question, the Donga Ilbo, issue a correction.