NPR

Here Are The Facts About North Korea's Nuclear Test

North Korea has claimed to have tested a hydrogen bomb, which is far more powerful than an atomic bomb. Experts think they may have pulled it off.
Pedestrians walk past a monitor showing an image of North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un in a news program reporting on North Korea's 6th nuclear test on September 3, 2017 in Tokyo, Japan. / Tomohiro Ohsumi / Getty Images

The blast was picked up by seismic stations all over the world, and it was big.

The Comprehensive Test Ban Treaty Organization, which monitors the globe for nuclear tests, said that its testing equipment had gone off-scale. The U.S. Geological Survey recorded a 6.3-magnitude earthquake, which was human-made. That's far larger than the seismic signature from the North's last test, conducted roughly a year. Here's what you need to know.

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