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SEOUL — A small natural earthquake detected in North Korea on Wednesday was likely a result of seismic instability lingering in the area since North Korea conducted its sixth and largest nuclear test in 2017, the South Korean government said.

A magnitude 2.5 earthquake was detected at 9:33 a.m. (0033 GMT) in Hamgyong Province, the location of North Korea’s shuttered Punggye-ri Nuclear Test Site, according to South Korea’s Meteorological Administration.

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“It was a natural earthquake, presumably caused by the sixth nuclear test,” the administration said in a statement on its website. “The area is about 3 kilometers (1.86 miles) southeast of the sixth nuclear test site.”

Punggye-ri is the only known site in North Korea used to test nuclear weapons. At least six tests were conducted there between October 2006 and September 2017.

In early 2018, North Korea said it would close the site, saying its nuclear force was complete.