Tag Archives: Norway

Arctic Earthquake

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Mw6.6 earthquake hits Jan Mayen in the Arctic with some damage

Last update: August 30, 2012 at 3:25 pm by By

Most important Earthquake Data:

Magnitude : Mw6.6
UTC Time : 13:43:24 UTC on August 30th, 2012
Local time at epicenter : 12:43:24 UTC on August 30th, 2012
Depth (Hypocenter) : 8km
Geo-location(s) : 93km NW away from Olonkinbyen, Svalbard and Jan Mayen

There has been reports of some damage and a rockslide, but no injuries among the 44 people living there.

A M5.2 aftershock also hit around 8 mins after the mainshock.

UPDATE:- This is reported to be one of the largest Norwegian earthquakes on record.

In 2008, a M6.2 was reported in Svalbard.

According to NORSAR “The largest earthquakes in historical times in Norway and surrounding offshore areas occurred in the Rana region in 1819, M 5.8, in the Vøring Basin in 1866, M 5.7, in the outer Oslofjord in 1904, M 5.4 and in the Viking Graben in 1927, M 5.3. The last earthquakes above M 5 include an M 5.3 event in the Vøring Basin in 1988, in an area with almost no earlier seismicity, and an M 5.2 event in the northeastern North Sea in 1989.”

The Oslofjord earthquake of 1904 is the best known earthquake causing damage in Norway.

So it looks like another earthquake record has been broken – as will continue to occur as better recording of earthquakes through time continues worldwide leading to better hazard maps in the future.

Further damage is yet to be confirmed as well as a possible tsunami caused by underwater landslide.

 

Beerenberg Volcano – over 2200m above sea level (Wiki Commons) – erupted in 1970 and 1985.

SUMMARY:-

A major earthquake has hit off Jan Mayen Island in Norway in the Arctic Ocean.

The Amazing coastline of Jan Mayen with the Beerenberg Volcano

44 people currently live on the small island of which the main export is gravel and also doubles as a telecommunications base for Norway.

from:    http://earthquake-report.com/2012/08/30/mw6-6-earthquake-hits-jan-mayen-in-the-arctic-with-some-damage/

 

 

Norway — Tons of Dead Fish Appear & Disappear

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Tons of dead fish appear on, then disappear from Norwegian beach

Tons of dead fish appear on, then disappear from Norwegian beach

A dog walks among tons of dead herring that washed up on a beach at Kvaenes in northern Norway on New Year’s Eve.
January 4th, 2012
11:02 AM ET

Tons of dead herring that washed up on a Norwegian beach on New Year’s Eve are now gone, and no one is sure how they got there or where they went.

Local resident Jan-Petter Jorgensen told Norway’s TV2 he went to look at the thousands and thousands of fish after seeing a Facebook posting about them, according to a report on The Foreigner.

Joregensen said it was fortunate the icy cold prevented the mass of dead fish from raising a stink.

“It is 15 degrees below zero today, so the cold means they don’t smell. Nevertheless, the smell will be pretty intense in the long run,” he said, according to The Foreigner report.

Turns out that wasn’t a problem. Views and News from Norway reports that as of Tuesday, most of the dead fish were gone, perhaps pushed out to sea by tides and winds. The local mayor said they’ll likely sink in the ocean, according to the report.

Why they came to be on the shore remains a mystery.

Jens Christian Holst of the Institute of Marine Research in Norway told Norwegian Broadcasting the herring may have been chased ashore by predators, the Views and News report said.

“In this area, we know there is a lot of (pollock) that graze on (herring),” he said.

Seems like a reasonable explanation.

Of course, on the Web there are always more troubling theories around, including that the deaths could be the first sign the end of the world is coming in 2012, as some believe ancient Mayan prophecy predicts.

from:    http://news.blogs.cnn.com/2012/01/04/tons-of-dead-fish-appear-on-then-disappear-from-norwegian-beach/