Danish seismologists say two natural gas pipelines running under the Baltic Sea, which carry natural gas from Russia to Germany, were hit by powerful explosions that caused the leak.

European leaders and experts pointed to possible sabotage amid the energy standoff with Russia provoked by the war in Ukraine. Although filled with gas, neither pipeline is currently supplying it to Europe.

"It is the authorities' clear assessment that these are deliberate actions -–, not accidents," Danish Prime Minister Mette Frederiksen said Tuesday.

But they added that no information has been received to indicate who is behind it. Frederiksen rejected claims that the incident was an attack on Denmark, adding that the spill occurred in international waters.

The incident overshadowed the inauguration of a long-awaited pipeline that will bring Norwegian gas to Poland to bolster the continent's energy independence from Moscow.

The first explosion was recorded early Monday southeast of the Danish island of Bornholm, said Bjorn Lund, director of the Swedish National Seismic Network.

A second, stronger blast northeast of the island that night was equivalent to a magnitude-2.3 earthquake. Seismic stations in Denmark, Norway and Finland also registered the explosions.

Lund added that there was no doubt it was not an earthquake.

On Wednesday, Danish Defense Minister Morten Bodskov will travel to Brussels to discuss the leaks with NATO chief Jens Stoltenberg.

Sweden, Germany and Poland have been informed and in this case, we will inform and contact Russia, Denmark's Foreign Minister Jeppe Kofod said.
He said Denmark's foreign intelligence service saw no military threat against Denmark after the three spills on the Nord Stream 1 and 2 pipelines.
Danish Energy Minister Dan Jorgensen said "we cannot say how long the leak will continue" because the gas has not been turned off. There is no indication when the gas will be turned off.

Nord Stream AG, the German operator of the pipelines, said it was preparing a survey to assess the damage.

"Currently, a timeline for the restoration of the gas transport infrastructure cannot be estimated," a company statement said. As a result of the investigation, the reasons for the incident will become clear.

The escaped natural gas is made up almost entirely of methane — the second biggest contributor to climate change after carbon dioxide.

David Hastings, a retired chemical oceanographer in Gainesville, Florida, said much of the gas would rise through the sea and enter the atmosphere.

"There is no question that the largest environmental impact of this is to the climate because methane is a really potent greenhouse gas," he said.

No official has produced evidence of what caused the leak, but as distrust of Russia rises, some fear Moscow may have sabotaged its own infrastructure or warned that pipelines could be vulnerable to attack.

The leak raised stakes on whether energy infrastructure would be targeted and led to a small jump in natural gas prices.

Asked if the leaks may have been caused by sabotage, Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said: "No version could be excluded."