A series of quakes with a preliminary magnitude of up to 5.7 were felt across southwest Iceland on Tuesday. There were no immediate reports of casualties.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office said the quake struck at 13:43 local time (17:43 CET) near Krysuvik, about 35 kilometres south of Reykjavik.
There were no immediate reports of injuries or damage, but the tremors briefly interrupted a parliamentary session in the capital city.
“This was the biggest earthquake I have ever experienced,” tweeted Finance Minister Bjarni Benediktsson, alongside a picture of a fallen ceiling tile.
MPs could be seen freezing for several seconds during live images on Icelandic television, and their work was suspended for a quarter of an hour.
Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson, MP for the Pirate Party, was pictured rushing from the podium, while speaker Steingrímur Sigfússon urged others to “just sit calmly”.
An earthquake in Iceland briefly disrupted an interview between Washington Post foreign affairs columnist David Ignatius and Prime Minister Katrín Jakobsdóttir pic.twitter.com/VQGUYQaSef
— Reuters (@Reuters) October 20, 2020
