AKIPRESS.COM - North Korea conducted a fifth nuclear test Friday, potentially its most powerful yet, South Korean officials said.

Seismic activity, with a magnitude of 5.3, was detected around 9 a.m. local time (8:30 p.m. ET) near Punggye-ri, Kilju County -- the same location as four other tests, the most recent of which was in January, CNN reports.

South Korea condemned the test and said it was a clear violation of the United Nations Security Council resolution.

"The only thing that Kim Jong Un regime can gain from the nuclear tests is stronger sanctions from the international community and its isolation. Such provocation will eventually hasten its path to self-destruction," South Korean President Park Geun-hye said in a statement.

The blast had the explosive power of 10 kilotons, almost twice as large as the previous test, said Kim Nam-wook, a South Korea's Meteorological Administration.

By comparison, the nuclear bomb dropped on Hiroshima was 15 kilotons.

"We are currently analyzing whether it was a successful test," a defense ministry official told CNN.