Intraplate earthquake swarms in Greenland and adjacent continental regions

Abstract

Earthquake swarms, consisting of many earthquakes of nearly equal magnitude within a small area, often occur in areas of recent or current volcanic or tectonic activity¹. But earthquake swarms can also be recognised in some typical intraplate areas in northern Canada², Norway and Greenland. A swarm of earthquakes started in Meløy in November 1978, remarkable because no earthquake swarms in Norway³ have been documented previously. The Meløy swarm occurred near the Norwegian coast, on one side of the Norwegian/Greenland Sea. A few earthquake swarms have occurred also in Greenland, near the east coast, by the Norwegian/Greenland Sea, and near the north coast, by the Arctic Ocean as have most of the swarms in northern Canada^2,4. Some common features of the earthquake swarms in Greenland, Norway and northern Canada are indicated here.