(dpa) - A quake measuring 6.2 on the Richter scale hit the Barents Sea south of the Arctic archipelago of Svalbard early Thursday, the public broadcaster NRK reported.
Initial reports suggested no-one had been injured in the quake that struck 140 kilometres south-east of the archipelago's main town, Longyearbyen.
Geologists at the seismology and earthquake centre NORSAR said the quake was likely the strongest to have hit Norway in recent times.
In January 1976, a quake with a magnitude of 5.5 on the Richter scale hit the same area.