Canberra: Australia has called on the United Nations to take urgent action against North Korea over its nuclear weapons following the communist state's latest nuclear weapons test.

The federal government has also urged China to use its political and economic leverage with North Korea to "rein in" its actions.

A shallow, 6.3-magnitude earthquake shook North Korea on Sunday with Pyongyang later confirming it had successfully tested a hydrogen bomb that possesses "great destructive power".

"North Korea's reckless conduct poses a grave danger to global peace and security," Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull said in a joint statement with Foreign Minister Julie Bishop and Defence Minister Marise Payne.