A minor earthquake rattled Kotka, southeast Finland, around 11pm on Friday.
According to the University of Helsinki’s Seismological Institute, the temblor had a magnitude of 1.2.
"This is a small earthquake. Such events are not unusual in Kymenlaakso, because the ground is slightly different than elsewhere," the institute’s director, Suvi Heinonen, told Yle.
According to Heinonen, the institute immediately received about 15 reports about the incident from the public via its website.
"I wondered what had blown up"
Kai Savolainen, who lives in a block of flats in Kotka’s Sapokka neighbourhood, was startled by a loud bang that shuddered the building's structures.
"I wondered what had blown up. I went to the balcony to look, but I couldn't hear any emergency vehicles," Savolainen said on Saturday morning.
Residents in other parts of the city described similar experiences in social media posts.
According to Heinonen, smaller aftershocks are possible.
Earthquakes occur relatively frequently in the Kymenlaakso region, which also includes the towns of Kouvola and Hamina. For example, in December 2022, a 1.8 magnitude earthquake was felt in Kotka and Pyhtää.
