The US Geological Institute has registered an earthquake off Greenland’s southeastern coast which measured 6.6 on the Richter scale.

The USGS says the quake took place at a depth of 8.6 km some 93 km northwest of Olonkinbyen on Jan Mayen island, some 900 kms north northeast of Iceland and some 400 kms east of Greenland..

The duty officer at Longyearbyen on Svalbard tells politiken.dk that the quake was not felt there. Greenland police have not registered surface reports of the quake either.

The USGS is also reporting a secondary quake in the area at 5.2 Richter, this time at a depth of some 12 kms.

Nurse May Johansen in Olonkinbyen on Norway’s Jan Mayen island tells politiken.dk that items cascaded off shelves. “Everyone’s a little shocked,” Johansen says from the small and only settlement on Jan Mayen.

There are some 20 people on Jan Mayen running the weather station and radar centre. The settlement is named Olonkinbyen after the Norwegian-Russian explorer and radio operator Gennady Olonkin (1898-1960).

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