N. Korea Fires 100 Artillery Rounds into Maritime 'Buffer Zone'

North Korea fired 100 artillery rounds into a maritime "buffer zone" Wednesday. AFP
North Korea fired 100 artillery rounds into a maritime "buffer zone" Wednesday. AFP
TT
20

N. Korea Fires 100 Artillery Rounds into Maritime 'Buffer Zone'

North Korea fired 100 artillery rounds into a maritime "buffer zone" Wednesday. AFP
North Korea fired 100 artillery rounds into a maritime "buffer zone" Wednesday. AFP

North Korea fired 100 artillery rounds into a maritime "buffer zone" Wednesday, Seoul's military said, hours after Pyongyang launched a series of missile tests including one that landed near South Korean waters.

"North Korea fired around 100 artillery rounds from the Kosong area in Kangwon into the 'buffer zone' north of the Northern Limit Line," Seoul's Joint Chiefs of Staff said, referring to the maritime border between the two Koreas.

Earlier, the military said it was the "first time since the peninsula was divided" at the end of Korean War hostilities in 1953 that a North Korean missile had landed so close to the South's territorial waters.

"President Yoon pointed out today that North Korea's provocation is an effective territorial invasion by a missile that crossed the Northern Limit Line for the first time since the division," his office said in a statement.

The missile closest to South Korea landed in waters just 57 kilometers east of the mainland, the military said.

Pyongyang's latest test-firing came as Seoul and Washington staged their largest-ever joint air drills, dubbed "Vigilant Storm", which involve hundreds of warplanes from both sides.



Multiple Quakes Leave Casualties in Guatemala, Cause Landslides

Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
TT
20

Multiple Quakes Leave Casualties in Guatemala, Cause Landslides

Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)
Debris lays on the street after dozens of earthquakes and aftershocks were recorded in a matter of hours in Palin, Guatemala, early Wednesday, July 9, 2025. (AP Photo/Moises Castillo)

A series of dozens of earthquakes were recorded in the span of hours in Guatemala, leaving two dead when rocks fell on their vehicle, authorities said. Landslides left several others buried.

More than 37 earthquakes and aftershocks with magnitudes ranging from 3.0 to 5.6 were reported in Guatemala Tuesday afternoon, said Edwin Rodas, director of the National Institute for Seismology, Vulcanology, Meteorology and Hydrology.

The tremors resulted in the evacuation of buildings, landslides, and minor property damage, officials said, adding they were felt as far away as El Salvador.
The two men killed were traveling in a pickup truck on a local road in the department of Escuintla when the rocks fell from a hillside onto the vehicle, firefighters said, according to The Associated Press.

Guatemalan President Bernardo Arévalo said at a press conference Tuesday that the main epicenter of the quakes was in the department of Sacatepéquez, with aftershocks in the regions of Escuintla and Guatemala department.

At least five people were buried by landslides, but emergency responders were able to rescue two, he added.

The National Coordinator for Disaster Reduction declared an orange alert, the second-highest on the emergency scale.

The US Geological Survey reported a 4.8 magnitude earthquake at 3:11 p.m. local time, 4 kilometers (2.5 miles) southwest of the town of Amatitlán, south of Guatemala City, with a depth of 10 kilometers (6 miles). It then reported another 5.7 magnitude quake 3 kilometers (2 miles) northwest of San Vicente Pacaya, a municipality in Escuintla, in the south-central region of the country.

Another 4.8 magnitude quake was reported 6 kilometers (4 miles) northwest of Palín, also in Escuintla.