Major earthquake strikes near Norwegian volcanic island in Arctic Sea
Officials in Norway say a powerful earthquake with a preliminary magnitude of 6.8 has occurred in the Arctic Sea, between a volcanic Norwegian island and Greenland.
The quake struck at a shallow depth of 10km below the sea floor on Friday morning. The jolts were recorded at 2:49am in the sea some 119km (74 miles) northwest of Olonkinbyen, Svalbard and Jan Mayen, according to USGS.
No injuries or damage have been reported so far.
However, the employees of the meteorological institute and several troops stationed on the mostly uninhabited volcanic island were “shocked” by the jolts, according to local media.
“I had the heart in my throat when I woke up because the mirror and the cabinets shook,” engineer Silje Wennesland Silje Wennesland told Norway’s NTB news agency.
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The island is believed to have a tiny population of up to 35 people, depending on the season. The quake is a fairly large event for the region as it is believed to be seismically calm.
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