An earthquake measuring 6.2 (USGS) to 6.3 (IGS) on the Richter magnitude scale is reported to have occurred in Iceland.

The United States Geological Survey plotted the quake’s epicentre at approximately 30 miles South East of Iceland’s capital city Rekjavik at a depth of 10 kilometers

At the moment it is reported that none of Iceland’s 300,000 population have been injured but some buildings are thought to have been damaged near the epicentre.

An earthquake 8 years ago measured 6.6 on the Richter magnitude scale caused damage to buildings but no casualties.

Data report for seismic event us2008sqba from USGS

• Magnitude 6.2

• Date-Time Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 15:46:00 UTC Thursday, May 29, 2008 at 03:46:00 PM at epicenter Time of Earthquake in other Time Zones

• Location 64.019°N, 20.916°W

• Depth 10 km (6.2 miles) set by location program

• Region ICELAND

• Distances 55 km (35 miles) ESE of REYKJAVIK, Iceland 115 km (70 miles) NW of Vik, Iceland 230 km (145 miles) SW of Akureyri, Iceland 260 km (160 miles) SSE of Isafjordur, Iceland

• Location Uncertainty horizontal +/- 4.2 km (2.6 miles); depth fixed by location program

• Parameters NST=242, Nph=242, Dmin=84 km, Rmss=0.9 sec, Gp= 40°, M-type=moment magnitude (Mw), Version=7

• Source USGS NEIC (WDCS-D)

• Event ID us2008sqba

Or perhaps more of a ‘tremor’ - relatively pathetic by international standards I should think.

At about 12:55am, I felt a mild East-West shaking motion here in North Warwickshire, lasting 5-10 seconds at a frequency of about 2Hz. A friend in the Harborne area of Birmingham felt a stronger up/down thrusting motion but did not tell me the frequency. Although there was no noise or apparent damage in Harborne, he reported loss of his cable internet connection and emergency services sirens immediately after the earthquake.

I suspect if the epicentre was nearby, this would be a milder quake than the 2002 earthquake which reached 5.0 on the Richter scale.

At this time, the BBC has the beginnings of a news report here. [potential sensationalism warning]