NorK Dork Corked

And Bill Gertz agrees with that initial speculation, just 24 short hours later:

U.S. intelligence agencies say, based on preliminary indications, that North Korea did not produce its first nuclear blast yesterday.

U.S. officials, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said that seismic readings show that the conventional high explosives used to create a chain reaction in a plutonium-based device went off, but that the blast's readings were shy of a typical nuclear detonation.

"We're still evaluating the data, and as more data comes in, we hope to develop a clearer picture," said one official familiar with intelligence reports.

"There was a seismic event that registered about 4 on the Richter scale, but it still isn't clear if it was a nuclear test. You can get that kind of seismic reading from high explosives."

It still remains, of course, to see if this assessment is correct. It could have been a faulty nuke, after all.

As ever, the sleepless Allah is on the case.

Update: Related thoughts at AoC.