A giant iceberg broke off the Brunt Ice Shelf in Antarctica, not far from a British scientific outpost.

The 1270 square kilometers chunk of ice is bigger than New York City and broke free in a process called calving, according to a statement from the British Antarctic Survey (BAS).

The BAS’s Halley Research Station, located on the Brunt Ice Shelf, is closed for the Antarctic winter and its 12-person staff left earlier this month.

Scientists have been expecting a large iceberg to break away for years because of vast cracks that have formed in the 150-meter-thick floating ice shelf, according to the BAS.

A new chasm, known as the North Rift, started moving toward another large crack in November and grew a kilometer a day in January.