Norwegian Seismic Monitor Says Recorded Possible Blast at Balticconnector Gas Link

MOSCOW (Sputnik) - NORSAR, an independent seismic monitoring organization, said on Tuesday that it had recorded what appeared to be an explosion at the Balticconnector gas pipeline, which runs from Finland to Estonia under the Baltic Sea.

"NORSAR has detected a probable explosion along the Finnish coast of the Baltic Sea at 01:20 (local time in Finland) on 8th October 2023 [22:30 GMT on October 7]. This explosion was detected using stations in Finland," the statement read.

The suspected explosion was rated as 1.0-magnitude on the Richter scale, which NORSAR noted was much lower than the explosion at Russia's Nord Stream natural gas pipeline detected in September 2022.

"Both location and magnitude estimates are associated with large uncertainties. Further analysis of the data is ongoing," the statement added.

Balticconnector was shut early on October 8 after a sudden drop in pressure raised concerns that gas was leaking from the 48-mile-long undersea pipeline, which has the annual capacity of up to 2.6 billion cubic meters. Pipeline operator Gasgrid Finland stated that the pipeline appeared to have been damaged.