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Seismograph spiked twice on day of Baltic pipeline leaks - Germany's GFZ

A reading from a seismograph on the Danish island of Bornholm shows two spikes, at 0003 and 1700 GMT, followed by a lower-level "hissing" on the day when the Nord Stream 1 and 2 Baltic gas pipelines sprang leaks one after the other. German Centre for Georesearch/Handout via REUTERS

A seismograph on the Danish island of Bornholm twice recorded spikes representing earth tremors on Monday, the day on which the Nord Stream 1 and 2 gas pipelines underwent dramatic falls in pressure, German geological research centre GFZ said.

The seismograph recorded near-silence until 0003 GMT (2am local time) when there was a spike representing a tremor in the earth followed by a continuous hissing waveform. The pattern repeated itself at 1700.

European politicians and security experts have suggested that the pipeline rupture near Bornholm could have been caused by sabotage. GFZ declined to be drawn on whether the tremors recorded could have been the result of an explosion.

A reading from a seismograph on the Danish island of Bornholm shows two spikes, at 0003 and 1700 GMT, followed by a lower-level "hissing" on the day when the Nord Stream 1 and 2 Baltic gas pipelines sprang leaks one after the other. German Centre for Georesearch/Handout via REUTERS

"There was a spike and then regular noise," said GFZ spokesperson Josef Zens. "We cannot say if that could be gas streaming out."

Nord Stream 2 was first reported to have depressurised on Monday afternoon. The depressurisation in the Nord Stream 1 pipeline was reported in the early evening, shortly after the second of the two spikes.

Gas leak at Nord Stream 2 as seen from the Danish F-16 interceptor on Bornholm, Denmark September 27, 2022. Danish Defence Command/Forsvaret Ritzau Scanpix/via REUTERS

(Reporting by Thomas Escritt; Editing by Madeline Chambers and Rachel More)

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