Update:
A magnitude 2.7 earthquake that shook near site of previous North Korean nuclear tests this morning was a natural phenomenon, South Korea’s weather agency says.
Earlier:
Ok, here we go.
Just moments ago we got fresh headlines out of North Korea where a 2.9 magnitude earthquake was detected in an area where previous nuclear tests have been carried out. Here’s the official word from USGS:
This event occurred in the area of the previous North Korean Nuclear tests. The event has earthquake like characteristics, however, we cannot conclusively confirm at this time the nature of the event. The depth is poorly constrained and has been held to 5 km by the seismologist.
As of now, the USGS says it can’t confirm if this is natural or man-made, but markets aren’t waiting.
USDJPY immediately dipped:
As did 10Y yields:
Amusingly, this hit the wires just as John Kelly said this:
Chief of Staff Kelly on North Korea: "American people should be concerned about a state that has developed a pretty good ICBM capability." pic.twitter.com/6MJCyNN07X
— ABC News (@ABC) October 12, 2017
Stay tuned…
This is what is going on…..No. Korea is spooked by the persistent Joint military exercises between the US-Japan-So. Korea….they certainly are afraid that they are being lulled into a distracted state and very likely believe that one of these may lead to an actual surprise attack. Not an unreasonable analysis..
Setting off a device was probably a warning to the US..they may well follow it up with a missile launch. They need to solidify their deterrent…