S.Korea on 24-hour watch for N.Korea nuke test with seismic, sound sensors

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http://www.khaleejtimes.ae/DisplayArticleNew.asp?xfile=data/theworld/2006/August/theworld_August970.xml§ion=theworld

DAEJEON, South Korea - The front line in the world’s vigil over whether North Korea tests its first nuclear bomb is a South Korean earthquake center, a normally serene lab monitoring the peninsula’s geological pulse with seismic sensors and sound detectors.

The Korea Earthquake Research Center was recently put on 24-hour watch, as fear grew about a potential nuclear test. The Defense Ministry sent soldiers to scrutinize its wall of video screens displaying skittering graphs of data from some 90 seismic stations across South Korea.

US and Japanese media reports this month said intelligence agencies were monitoring suspicious activity at a suspected North Korean underground nuclear test site, detecting moving vehicles and cables that could be used to connect the test site to aboveground diagnostic equipment.

On Monday, the head of South Korea’s intelligence agency said the North was ready to test a nuclear device at any time, but that there was no direct sign indicating the communist nation was preparing to do so now.