North Korean media’s claims they they tested a hydrogen bomb on Wednesday have caused widespread speculation about the current status on the DPRK’s nuclear weapons technologies.

Thermonuclear explosions – such as the pictured Ivy Mike nuclear test – are orders of magnitude more powerful than their atomic predecessors, potentially indicating the DPRK has advanced through numerous technological barriers since its first nuclear test in October 2006.

Experts, however, have expressed scepticism at the news, citing a much weaker seismic event than could be expected as evidence for either a failed test, or an exaggeration of the North’s evolving capabilities.

Bruce Bennett, a