Read news from:
Austria
SHARE
COPY LINK

GREENLAND

Greenland registers tremors from Turkey earthquake

Tremors from the powerful earthquake that rocked Turkey and neighbouring Syria on Monday were felt as far away as Greenland, the Geological Survey of Denmark and Greenland said.

Published: 6 February 2023 13:37 CET
Greenland registers tremors from Turkey earthquake
A file photo of Greenland, where tremors were measured on Monday from a devastating earthquake thousands of kilometres away in Turkey. Photo: Christian Klindt Sølbeck/Ritzau Scanpix

“The large earthquakes in Turkey were clearly registered on the seismographs in Denmark and Greenland,” seismologist Tine Larsen told AFP.

The first 7.8-magnitude quake struck at 04:17am local time at a depth of about 17.9 kilometres near the Turkish city of Gaziantep, which is home to around two million people, the US Geological Survey said.

“The waves from the earthquake reached the seismograph on the Danish island of Bornholm approximately five minutes after the shaking started,” Larsen said.

“Eight minutes after the earthquake, the shaking reached the east coast of Greenland, propagating further through all of Greenland,” she added.

Later, another 7.5-magnitude quake struck southeastern Turkey.

“We have registered both earthquakes — and a lot of aftershocks — in Denmark and Greenland,” she said.

Monday’s quake is the deadliest in Turkey since a 7.4-magnitude one in 1999 when more than 17,000 people died, including about 1,000 in Istanbul.

Member comments

Log in here to leave a comment.
Become a Member to leave a comment.

GREENLAND

‘The image speaks for itself’: Greenland PM criticises Danish government

The prime minister of Greenland said on Thursday he regretted the way relations between his autonomous Arctic territory and mainland Denmark had deteriorated following Copenhagen's appointment of a new Arctic ambassador.

Published: 25 May 2023 13:33 CEST
'The image speaks for itself': Greenland PM criticises Danish government

“Relations between Denmark and Greenland are not at their best at the moment,” the head of the Greenland government, Mute, told Danish daily Politiken.

Greenland is unhappy about Denmark’s appointment of a new ambassador who has no ties to the region, despite an accord stipulating that Greenland must be consulted on Danish decisions that concern it.

“The procedure reveals what the foreign ministry thinks of us and the way it doesn’t include us, when we are the country’s Arctic region. The image speaks for itself,” Egede said.

Ambassador Tobias Elling Rehfeld, an expert on international law, is not Greenlandic.

Danish Foreign Minister Lars Lokke Rasmussen responded to Egede’s criticism by saying Rehfeld’s nomination was in line with other ambassadorial appointments made by his ministry.

“As things stand now, (Greenland’s) foreign policy is still managed by the kingdom of Denmark,” Rasmussen said.

Copenhagen was “trying in many areas to help Greenland play a bigger role in terms of foreign policy”, he added.

Ties between the two have also been strained by the decision of a Greenland MP to make a speech in the Danish parliament in Greenlandic. Some politicians argue that exchanges in the assembly should be solely in Danish. There is no set rule on the matter so parliamentary officials are to meet in June to decide.

Greenland has been autonomous since 1979. The world’s largest island — located in the Arctic some 2,500 kilometres
(1,550 miles) from Denmark — has its own flag, language, culture, institutions and prime minister.

But it relies heavily on a Danish grant, which makes up a quarter of its GDP and more than half its public budget.

Matters concerning currency, the justice system, and foreign and security affairs remain under Denmark’s authority.

At the end of April, the Greenlandic parliament began examining a draft constitution, drawn up in secrecy over four years, which could be the basis for negotiations if the territory sought independence from Denmark.

SHOW COMMENTS