Russia's northernmost seismic station has been established on Alexandra Land of the Franz Josef Land archipelago for earthquake monitoring in the Arctic, according to Alexei Danilov, a researcher at the Institute of Ecological Problems of the North of the Arkhangelsk Scientific Center of the Russian Academy of Sciences' Urals Department.

"The northernmost station for seismic observations on Franz Josef Land makes it possible to more accurately determine the epicenter of an earthquake in the border area of the continental shelf in the Russian Arctic's western sector, which will help make substantial progress in understanding the origin of the seismicity of Arctic submarine ridges, in particular the Gakkel Ridge," the TASS news agency reported, citing Mr. Danilov.

He noted that the seismic sensor is very sensitive and detects underground tremors anywhere in the world. "The station operates in automatic mode at temperatures down to minus 50 degrees Centigrade and transmits seismic data to the institute's seismic lab via the Internet," Danilov said.