(Yicai Global) Sept. 25 -- The earthquake registered earlier in North Korea was not a nuclear test, but a natural earthquake, China Earthquake Networks Center (CENC) said Sept. 23.

A magnitude-3.4 earthquake was detected in North Korea (41.36 degrees north latitude, 129.06 degrees east longitude) at 4.29 p.m. that day, with a focal depth of 0 kilometers, CENC said.

The epicenter lay near the Punggye-ri nuclear test base, and this aroused speculation as to whether Pyongyang had conducted its seventh nuclear test.

Officials at the South Korean meteorological agency also found it was a natural phenomenon after analyzing the seismic waveforms. "Seismic waves can be perceived when natural earthquakes occur, but the specific soundwaves man-made earthquakes generate were not detected," the agency said.