Today (24-March-2018) at 16:32 UTC a magnitude 3,0 earthquake happened in Öræfajökull volcano. There has been a lot of smaller earthquake activity in Öræfajökull volcano in recent days and the earthquake activity has been continuous for most of that time.
The earthquake activity in Öræfajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
I am unclear at the moment if there is any change happening at this moment. There has been slight increase in earthquakes that have magnitude larger than 1,5 in recent days. Overall there has been no major increase in earthquake activity so far in Öræfajökull volcano. But it has been mostly continuous for last several weeks and that might be a sign of trouble in near future.
The magnitude 3,0 earthquake was felt in Öræfasveit and other nearby areas.
I’ll update this article later if anything major happens.
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What do you mean by near future? Now the snow is melting at the glasiers. Do you think it will erupt this year? Who will erupt first in iceland katla øŕefjall barda or another?
It is not possible to know for sure when a eruption is going to happen. But this rate of activity suggests Öræfajökull volcano is preparing for a eruption in near future. It is my guess that an eruption is going to happen within five year time frame as things currently stands.
It might quiet down again, that does happens with volcanoes sometimes.
Wrong, on the experience of Chaiten, Chile, and Kelud in Indonesia, these volcanoes suddenly erupt.
Oraefajokull will grow at most in a year.
Latest report are that sulphur smell has been detected in the glacier called Breiðamerkurjökull (live camera), it goes into Jökulárslón. This is not connected to Öræfajökull volcano rather this is connected to activity in Esjufjöll volcano and might suggest that a hydrothermal activity has started in Esjufjöll volcano.
Esjufjöll, https://volcano.si.edu/volcano.cfm?vn=374020
Jökulárslón, https://www.livefromiceland.is/webcams/jokulsarlon/
A news report has stated that this gas issue will be looked into more tomorrow, so, hopefully, we will know more soon.