Earthquake in Iceland

The 2008 Iceland earthquake was a doublet earthquake that struck on May 29, 2008 at 15:46 UTC in southwestern Iceland. The recorded magnitudes of the two main quakes were 5.9 Mw and 5.8 Mw, respectively, giving a composite magnitude of 6.2Mw.There were no human fatalities, but 30 injuries were reported and a number of sheep were killed. The epicenter of the earthquake was between the towns of Hveragerði and Selfoss, about 45 kilometers (28 mi) east-southeast of the capital, Reykjavík. In Iceland the ridge is somewhat off-set, creating two transform faults where plates move horizontally along each other. One is in the north of the country and one in the south; the strongest Icelandic earthquakes happen along those transform faults.Many farms were also affected.In the town of Selfoss, near the epicentre, buildings were damaged and up to 20 people needed treatment for minor injuries.Residents in the capital felt buildings shake when the tremors struck and the road between Reykjavik and Selfoss was closed by quake damage.