TENSIONS have been escalating in the Korean peninsula in recent weeks following a series of renewed missile tests by the North Korean regime.

The latest test detonation – on Sunday lunchtime in Korea – caused a 6.3-magnitude earthquake, according to the US Geological Survey.

At this magnitude, the test caused shock waves five to six times stronger than a previous test in September 2016.

North Korea said the test was a hydrogen bomb – a device with the potential to be vastly more destructive than the atomic bombs that devastated the Japanese cities of Nagasaki and Hiroshima in August 1945.

North Korea’s state media said the country’s leader Kim Jong Un had inspected the loading of a hydrogen bomb into a new intercontinental ballistic missile.

There has been some scepticism from experts about Pyongyang’s assertion that it has mastered hydrogen technology, but it is almost impossible to independently confirm North Korean statements about its highly secretive weapons programme.

Here is a timeline of key moments in the latest crisis:

August 8

FOLLOWING reports that North Korea had developed a miniaturised nuclear warhead that can fit inside its missiles, Donald Trump says any escalation in hostilities would “be met with fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which the world has never seen before”.

August 9

NORTH Korea says it is examining its operational plans for attacking Guam, with the state-run news agency reporting the army said the move was in response to a recent US intercontinental ballistic missile test and it was studying a plan to create an “enveloping fire” in areas around Guam with medium to long-range missiles.

US secretary of state Rex Tillerson says he does not believe there is “any imminent threat” from North Korea and “Americans should sleep well at night”. He added: “What the president is doing is sending a strong message to North Korea in language that Kim Jong Un can understand, because he doesn’t seem to understand diplomatic language.”

August 13

FOREIGN Secretary Boris Johnson posts on Twitter that “the North Korean regime is the cause of this problem and they must fix it”, having spoken to US president Donald Trump and urged both sides to avoid words or actions that could worsen the situation.

Meanwhile, a former head of the Royal Navy says the Government should advise British nationals in the Korean peninsula to leave if the tensions continue to ratchet up.

August 15

NORTH Korea’s military presents leader Kim Jong Un with plans to launch missiles into waters near Guam and “wring the windpipes of the Yankees”.

August 28

FOREIGN secretary Boris Johnson speaks of “reckless provocation” as Pyongyang launches a missile between the Korean peninsula and Japan. The device flew over the Japanese island of Hokkaido, before ditching into the Pacific Ocean. Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe said the launch was “outrageous”.

August 30

US president Donald Trump tweets “talking is not the answer”, saying his country and North Korea had been engaged in dialogue for 25 years and paying them what he called “extortion money”.

September 3

NORTH Korea carries out its latest nuclear test. The regime said it was a hydrogen bomb meant for an intercontinental ballistic missile, while South Korea said it recorded a 5.6-magnitude earthquake – later revised by the US Geological Survey to 6.3 – which was triggered artificially, suggesting a device had been detonated.

The new test is swiftly condemned by world leaders, with US president Donald Trump saying the communist state’s “words and actions continue to be very hostile and dangerous”, and Prime Minister Theresa May calling it an “unacceptable further threat to the international community”.