Earthquake in Iceland causes damage

By Kristin Arna Bragadottir

SELFOSS, Iceland (Reuters) - A strong earthquake rocked Iceland on Thursday, damaging roads and buildings in one town and sending frightened residents running into the streets.

Police in Selfoss, 31 miles (50 km) southeast of the capital Reykjavik, said they had received no reports of injuries and that damage to buildings in the area had been relatively minor.

The U.S. Geological Survey said the quake struck at 3:46 p.m. (4:46 p.m.), 6.2 miles (10 km) beneath the earth's surface.

In Selfoss, a small southwestern town near the quake's epicentre, dozens of panicking people poured into the streets.

"I didn't know what was happening. All of a sudden, I felt the ground moving and saw the shelves shaking and walls in the store shaking," said Kolbrun Sigurdardottir, a clothing store clerk in the town.

"I ran out into the street, which was filled with people. A pregnant lady next to me was terrified. We're still shaking with nerves, but I'm glad everybody is okay," she told Reuters.

Iceland is renowned for its fierce geophysical temper. The island, which sits on a fault line, is dotted with geysers and volcanoes. Earthquakes of magnitudes up to 7.1 have shaken the island in the past.

The quake hit a day before a planned visit to Iceland by U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack, who was with Rice at a conference in Sweden on Thursday, said the visit would go ahead.