North Korea test " like Hiroshima " (by Aidan Radnedge )
The world united in fear and outrage yesterday after North Korea carried out a nuclear test with the force of the bombs that fell on Hiroshima and Nagasaki .
Even the rogue Communist state's usual allies, China and Russia, condemned the underground test which shook the ground 210km(130miles) away.
An emergency United Nations meeting was called to discuss toughening up sanctions against Pyongyang.
Secretary-general Ban Ki-Moon accused the nation of " a clear violation " of Secyrity Council resolution 1718, which bars it from any nuclear tests.
The UN Security Council vowed to start work immediately on a new resolution on the country. Gordon Brown theatened 'renewd isolation' for an act of provocation that made it 'a danger to the world '.
Barack Obama called the country's nuclear programme 'grave threat to the peace and security of the world ' , adding: ' The international community must take action ' .
In Russia, the Kremlin said the test caused ' the most serious concern ' while China said it was ' vehemently opposed ' to the act .
North Korea announced it had carried out a 'successful ' test in the north-east of the country at 12.55am British time yesterday.
This was reportedly followed by test-firing of three short-range , ground-to-air missiles at the Musudan-ri launchpad on the country's north-eastern coast . The missile system was reported to be a set-up that could be loaded with nuclear warheads.
The nuclear test was much larger than one carried out by the country in 2006, which prompted similar criticism and UN sanctions. Back then , the force was thought to be equal to 1,000 tonnes of TNT. Russia estimated the latest test at up to 20,000 tonnes.
When the US dropped atomic bombs on Japan in 1945 , Hiroshima was hit by 13,000 tonnes and Nagasaki 21,000 tonnes. More than 220,000 people died .
