BREAKING NEWS: NORTH KOREA CONDUCTS A NUCLEAR TEST!

It all started with an 4.9 mag "earthquake" and goes about 7KT

SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- North Korea is believed to have conducted a widely anticipated nuclear test Tuesday, following an earthquake that monitoring agencies around the globe said appeared to be unnatural.

The South Korean Defense Ministry, which raised its military alert level after the quake, said it was trying to determine whether it was a test. Nuclear blasts can create tremors but they are distinct from those caused by natural earthquakes.

A world nuclear test monitoring organization detected what it called an "unusual seismic event" in North Korea.

"The event shows clear explosion-like characteristics and its location is roughly congruent with the 2006 and 2009 DPRK nuclear tests," said Tibor Tóth, the executive secretary of the Comprehensive Nuclear Test Ban Treaty Organization. The DPRK refers to North Korea's formal name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

Japan is calling for immedate action.

Japan's prime minister has called an urgent security meeting, according to chief government spokesman Yoshihide Suga, and South Korea raised its military alert level, the AP reported. 

And there is a threat of more DPRK missile testing. 

After North Korea vowed to continue firing long-range rockets without mentioning a promised nuclear test, South Korea's defense ministry said Tuesday Pyongyang could launch missiles and detonate a nuclear device simultaneously.

   South Korea has been put on high alert since the North last month threatened to conduct a third atomic test to protest strengthened sanctions for its December rocket launch, with some expecting the tension to enter the most critical phase this week ahead of political events.

   "The military is closely watching the latest movement because North Korea could fire off (a long-range rocket) or something else while testing its nuclear device," ministry spokesman Kim Min-seok said during a briefing. "South Korea and the U.S. have mobilized all intelligence assets to observe attempts to (fire off a long-range rocket)."

   When the North announced it successfully detonated a nuclear device in May 2009, it fired off several short-range missiles on the same day in an apparent move to foil intelligence monitoring near the test site.

Not only does this directly impact Japan, China and South Korea but it also can reach all the way here.

 Just something to think about.