Bouvet Island 247 years after its discovery. The Norwegian Polar Institute established a research station, made of shipping containers, at Nyrøysa in 1996. On 23 February 2006, the island experienced a magnitude 6.2 earthquake whose epicentre was about away, weakening the station's foundation and causing it to be blown to sea during a winter storm. In 2014, a new research station was sent from Tromsø in Norway, via Cape Town, to Bouvet. The new station is designed to house six people for periods of two to four months. In the mid-1980s, Bouvetøya, Jan Mayen, and Svalbard were considered as locations for the
Bouvet Island Kapp Fie. After rounding Kapp Fie, the coast along the south side is known as Vogtkysten. The westernmost part of it is the long shore of Sjøelefantstranda. Off Catoodden, on the south-western corner, lies Larsøya, the only island of any size off Bouvetøya. The western coast from Catoodden north to Nyrøysa, is known as Esmarchkysten. Midway up the coast lies Norvegiaodden (Kapp Norvegia) and off it the skerries of Bennskjæra. 93 percent of the island is covered by glaciers, giving it a domed shape. The summit region of the island is Wilhelmplatået, slightly to the west of the island's center.