Japan's Defense Minister: North Korean nuclear test was more powerful than we thought

On Tuesday, Japan's defense minister said that North Korea's sixth and most recent nuclear test was more powerful than originally thought, as the explosion had a much larger yield than the atomic bomb dropped in. Hiroshima in 1945.

North Korea detonated what it described as a hydrogen bomb Sunday at its Punggye-ri nuclear test site, claiming the weapon was designed for a long-range missile.

The CTBTO originally said the bomb had an estimated yield of 70 kilotons, but on Tuesday, Japanese Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera told reporters that an up-to-date revision of the CTBTO estimated the yield to about 120 kilotons.

That would make the Pyongyang explosive eight times more powerful than the US-dropped bomb in Hiroshima, Japan, at the end of World War II. This explosion had an equivalent yield of 15 kilotons of TNT.

"We can see that the nuclear test showed a very high capacity," Onodera said, according to Dawn.

While Indian Defense Minister Arun Jaitley was visiting Tokyo, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said earlier in the day that North Korea's behavior would only be thwarted by a united front. "Whether we can contain the outrageous act of North Korea or not, that will depend on the unity among the members of the international community," Abe said.

Washington is calling for tougher sanctions against the North. An emergency meeting of the Security Council was convened by US ambassador to the United Nations Nikki Haley shortly after the detonation. The United States will present new sanctions to be voted on next week.

Japan is developing evacuation plans for Japanese nationals in South Korea in case of conflict, while Russian President Vladimir Putin believes that economic sanctions against the North will be "useless and ineffective."