An earthquake hit north of Norway’s Svalbard

There were no immediate reports of damage.

By Reuters - May 23, 2022
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A view across Yoldiabukta Bay towards Spitsbergen island, part of the Svalbard archipelago in northern Norway on September 27, 2020. (Natalie Thomas / Reuters File Photo)

OSLO — A magnitude 6 earthquake struck north of the Norwegian Arctic archipelago of Svalbard on Saturday, the European-Mediterranean Seismological Center said, though police said there were no reports of any injuries or damage.

The quake happened 725 kilometers (450 miles) north of Svalbard at a depth of 2 kilometers, EMSC said.

“We have had no reports of any incident,” a police spokesperson at the Svalbard governor’s office told Reuters.

He added there were usually “many ships” sailing around the island, but did not know how many there were at the moment.

“As of now we have no incoming reports on this,” a spokesperson for Norway’s northern region rescue services told Reuters on Saturday.

The main settlement on Svalbard, Longyearbyen, is situated in the central part of the archipelago.

Reporting by Gwladys Fouche and Terje Solsvik in Oslo and Rhea Binoy in Bengaluru.