The Alaska Earthquake Center says its equipment picked up seismic activity after North Korea's claimed detonation of a hydrogen bomb Tuesday. But the seismic reaction is almost the same as the seismic reaction that followed an explosion in the North three years ago, when the country detonated a nuclear bomb. Earthquake Center technician Sara Meyer said Tuesday's event registered a 5.1 magnitude, the same as in 2013.
"Near-identical signals on our Alaska stations suggest same type, size & place as 2013 test," the Alaska Earthquake Center wrote in a tweet Wednesday.
On Tuesday, North Korea announced it had successfully detonated its first hydrogen bomb. But since the announcement, top U.S. officials have been skeptical of whether the bomb the rogue nation detonated was actually a hydrogen bomb and not another nuclear bomb, The New York Times reported.
"A hydrogen bomb would be far more powerful, and more fearsome, than the type of nuclear weapon the North has tested three times since 2006…" The New York Times wrote Wednesday.
Meyer said the quake was picked up by seismic sensors across Alaska. A similarly sized earthquake would have been a "sizeable" event for Interior Alaska.
The Times reported it could take weeks before the U.S. can determine more specific details of the test.
Correction: An earlier version of this story misquoted research technician Sara Meyer as saying the North Korean test produced a "sizeable" seismic event in the Interior. She said a similarly sized earthquake in the Interior would be a sizeable event.