Author: Jón Frímann

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Strong earthquake swarm east of Fagradalsfjall mountain

Today (26-August-2020) a strong earthquake swarm took place east of Fagradalsfjall mountain. Strongest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw4,2 and second strongest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw3,7. Three other earthquakes with magnitude above Mw3,0 took place in this earthquake swarm. At the writing of this article total of 350 earthquakes have taken place.


The earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes peninsula in Reykjanes volcano. Image used with permission and copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake swam seems to be at the most eastern end of a volcano called Reykjanes. This activity happens in swarms and at the writing of this article a new activity has started. It is not possible to know how long this activity is going to last. At the writing of this article there are no signs that magma has started to find a path to the surface and current data suggest this earthquake activity only to be tectonic earthquake currently. GPS data continues to suggest injection of magma into the crust at 8 km to 3 km depth in Reykjanes volcano. This injection of magma has been going on since January-2020.

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New earthquake swarm in Tjörnes Fracture Zone (volcano)

Today (21-August-2020) an earthquake swarm started in Tjörnes Fracture Zone volcano. It is unclear if this earthquake activity is because of tectonic activity. Largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw3,2 at the writing of this article. Other earthquakes in this swarm had smaller in magnitude.


The earthquake swarm (green star) in Tjörnes Fracture Zone. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This is a new earthquake swarm and is not connected to the earthquake swarm in the western part of Tjörnes Fracture Zone. This are two separate earthquake swarms now happening. This earthquake activity is ongoing at the writing of this article in both earthquake swarms.

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Unexpected glacier flood from south Langjökull glacier

On Monday 17-August-2020 a glacier flood took place from south Langjökull glacier. This glacier flood seems to have been unexpected and was it seems rather large. It killed fish in the rivers it flooded. This might be connected to a volcano called Presthnjúkar but that remains unclear at the writing of this article. There has been no earthquake or other activity in this area in recent days above background level.

Update 1

This glacier flood took part in the western south part of Langjökull glacier. It is not known the origin of this glacier flood due to cloud cover of the glacier yesterday (19-August-2020).

Update 2

Rúv News published an news today (20-August-2020) with videos of the area where the flood did come from. This was a glacier lake that emptied it self by breaking trough the end of Langjökull glacier resulting in this glacier flood.

News in Icelandic with a video

„Það hefur enginn séð neitt í líkingu við þetta“ (Rúv.is)

Article in Icelandic with pictures

Stór spýja hljóp fram Hvítá og rennsli árinnar nær þrefaldaðist (skessuhorn.is)

Update at 02:50 UTC on 20-August-2020.
Updated at 20:57 UTC on 20-August-2020

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Two strong earthquakes in Tjörnes Fracture Zone during the night

During the night of 8-August-2020 at 03:42 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw4,6 took place in Tjörnes Fracture Zone on Flatey – Húsavík fault. This earthquake was felt and did wake people up from their sleep. A second earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,7 took place at 03:52 UTC. Both earthquakes were felt. No damage happened in this earthquake. After the largest earthquakes happened a swarm of smaller earthquakes took place.


The earthquake activity in Tjörnes Fracture Zone. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake swarm is the same one that started on 19-June-2020 and has been ongoing since then. This earthquake swarm has not been as strong as it was in June at the moment. There is a permanent risk of a magnitude Mw7,0 earthquake in this area while the earthquake swarm is ongoing. There are no signs that this earthquake swarm is about to end.

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Renewed earthquake swarm activity in Tjörnes Fracture Zone (TFZ)

Today (4-August-2020) at 15:16 earthquake with magnitude Mw3,3 took place in Tjörnes Fracture Zone in the area that has been having earthquake swarm since 19-June-2020. Before this earthquake happened an increase in smaller earthquakes happened.


The earthquake swarm in Tjörnes Fracture Zone. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

The earthquake swarm in this area of Tjörnes Fracture Zone is now in its second month and doesn’t show any sign of ending. Currently there is a risk of a magnitude Mw7,0 earthquake in this area while this earthquake swarm continues.

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Two strong earthquakes in Reykjanes volcano

Yesterday (31-July-2020) two earthquakes with magnitude Mw3,4 and Mw3,0 took place in Reykjanes volcano. This earthquake activity is part of the inflation that is happening north of Grindavík town in the Reykjanes volcano.


Earthquake activity close to Fagradallsfjall mountain. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met office.

Earthquake activity in Reykjanes volcano is now mostly continues but it peaks with earthquake activity swarm like this one every few days to weeks. How much earthquake activity depends on how magma inflow is taking place at 3 to 10 km depth. It seems that flow rate is different between hours to days. Since the earthquake activity is continuous in Reykjanes volcano there is a permanent risk of magnitude Mw5,0 to Mw6,0 earthquake in this area.

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Earthquake activity in Katla volcano this morning

Today (27-July-2020) a small earthquake swarm took place in Katla volcano. This was just normal earthquake swarm at shallow depth that is often the case with earthquakes in Katla volcano.


The earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw3,4 and the second largest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw2,8. Other earthquakes were smaller in magnitude. No harmonic tremor change was seen before or after the earthquakes took place. This earthquake has been connected to emptying of glacier water filled cauldron in Mýrdalsjökull glacier. This happens frequently in the summer.

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Earthquake activity in Katla volcano

During the night of 23-July-2020 at 05:36 UTC a magnitude Mw3,3 earthquake took place in Katla volcano. There was no change in harmonic tremor following this earthquake and that means that magma stayed were it is in Katla volcano. In the hours since this earthquake took place there has not been any increase in earthquake activity or harmonic tremor change in Katla volcano.


The earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Earlier earthquakes had a magnitude of Mw2,4 and Mw2,7. All other earthquakes were smaller in magnitude. I don’t expect anything more to happen now and Katla volcano remains quiet.

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Strong earthquake swarm close to Fagradalsfjall (Reykjanes volcano)

Yesterday (19-July-2020) at 23:36 UTC an earthquake with magnitude Mw5,1 took place 0,3 km south-west of a mountain called Fagradalsfjall that is inside Reykjanes volcano. This is the same location that I wrote about in earlier article. At the writing of this article 1340 earthquakes have happened over the last 48 hours. Second largest earthquake took place at 06:23 UTC today (20-July-2020) and had a magnitude Mw5,0. At the writing of this article 26 earthquakes with magnitude above Mw3,0 have taken place. Some rock slides have happened during this earthquake swarm when the largest earthquake took place and more rock slides might happen in this activity.


The earthquake activity on the Reykjanes peninsula in the Reykjanes volcano. A lot of wrong locations are on this map because the SIL network can’t handle all the earthquakes that are happening. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


Current earthquake activity on Reykjanes peninsula. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity has been connected to magma injection and inflation in Reykjanes volcano. Currently it is not known if magma has moved into the direction were this earthquake swarm is. At the writing of this article the earthquake swarm has slowed down in activity. How long this slowdown is going to last is difficult to know for sure. There is more risk for strong earthquakes in this area.

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Earthquake swarm in the Reykjanes volcano

Over the last few hours there has been an earthquake swarm close to mountain called Fagradalsfjall in or close to the volcano called Reykjanes. At the writing of this article no earthquake with magnitude over Mw2,0 have happened. That might change without a warning.


The earthquake swarm in the volcano Reykjanes or close to it. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Currently there isn’t anything suggesting that magma is on the move at the writing of this article. This earthquake swarm is something to watch out for since this might increase in size and magnitude over the next few hours. Inflation data from GPS measurements from this area are still unclear. There is also ongoing earthquake swarm north of Grindavík town but it has quieted down in last few hours.