NUCLEAR experts have rubbished claims from North Korea that it has successfully detonated a Hydrogen bomb.
The world was put on alert this morning when it was reported Kim Jong-un had ordered the blast as an early 33rd birthday present to himself.
Seismic data confirmed a man-made quake of 5.1 magnitude was triggered close to the secretive nation's nuclear test site.
But experts played down the claims, saying a genuine H-bomb would have created a far bigger blast.
They said it was more likely the explosion was a less powerful Atom bomb.
World leaders, including in ally China, condemned the pariah state's fourth nuclear test explosion in a decade.
Japanese PM Shinzo Abe said it threatens his nation's safety, adding: "We absolutely cannot allow this, and condemn it strongly."
Britain's Foreign Secretary Philip Hammond tweeted: "If North Korean H-bomb test reports are true, it is a grave breach of #UNSC resolutions & a provocation which I condemn without reservation."
He is currently on a visit to Beijing and said he will work with Chinese leaders on a joint response.
The regime vowed to continue pursuing an advanced nuclear strike capability, warning: "As long as the vicious anti-North policy of the US persists, we will never stop development of our nuclear programme."
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