US Says N.Korea Blast Probably Not Nuclear.

SEOUL, South Korea/Washington (Reuters) - A huge explosion rocked North Korea last week but U.S. and South Korean officials said Sunday it was unlikely to have been a nuclear weapons test despite the appearance of a “peculiar cloud” over the area.

South Korea first got indications of the blast from a satellite, but it was too early to say whether it was a bomb, a senior South Korean official told Reuters. It probably occurred between Wednesday evening and Thursday morning.

“The weather overall at the time was cloudy but there was a peculiar cloud, a cloud that was different from any other,” said the official, who asked not to be identified. “We cannot confirm whether it had the characteristics of a mushroom cloud.”

Secretary of State Colin Powell said there was “no indication that that was a nuclear event of any kind. Exactly what it was, we’re not sure.” Asked on ABC’s “This Week” if North Korea has tested a nuclear device, Powell said, “No.”

“We don’t think, at this point, that it was a nuclear event. But we’re looking at it and we’ll get further analysis,” national security adviser Condoleezza Rice said on CNN’s “Late Edition.”