A small earthquake caused panic in Stockholm on Wednesday night when inhabitants mistook a loud bang for an explosion, police said.
Hundreds of Stockholm residents alerted police and abandoned their homes when they heard the noise, fearing a bomb had gone off.
For three hours, police cars and helicopters trawled the Swedish capital in vain in search of the explosion, Tomas Ibstedt of Stockholm police said.
“We have been informed by seismologists in Uppsala [north of Stockholm] that there was an earthquake,” said Ibstedt.
Seismologist Reynir Bodvarsson said on Swedish public radio there had been a small quake measuring about two on the Richter scale.
There were no injuries or damage, police said. — AFP