Underwater earthquake shakes Arctic seas

NUUK, Greenland, Aug. 30 (UPI) -- A strong underwater earthquake shook the seas between Greenland and Jan Mayen Island early Thursday.

While the quake, at 6.6 magnitude, was strong enough to cause significant damage in an area 100 miles in diameter, it hit far from any populated regions, the U.S. Geological Survey said. The closest land, Jan Mayen, is Norwegian territory and houses only a weather station and a Loran base.

The epicenter of the quake was 262 miles east-northeast of Ittoqqortoormiit or Scoresbysund on the east coast of Greenland and 582 miles north-northeast of the nearest sizable city, Reykjavik, Iceland.