Earthquakes – Page 116 – Iceland geology

March 24, 2014

Three earthquakes in Hekla volcano. Earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano

For the past 24 hours tree earthquakes so far have been recorded in Hekla volcano. There is no sign of eruption or anything other than earthquakes taking place at present time.

The earthquake activity in Hekla volcano (top left). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

It is possible to monitor Hekla volcano here for earthquakes (almost real-time data).
Here is an list of web cameras that point to Hekla volcano.
Míla web camera of Hekla volcano can be viewed here.
IMO earthquake web page can be viewed here.

Currently there is bad weather in south Iceland that makes observation and monitoring of Hekla volcano difficult.

Earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano

Yesterday (23-March-2014) and Today (24-March-2014) an earthquake swarm took place in Hengill volcano. This earthquake swarm has its source in water being pumped down into the ground from Orkuveita Reykjavíkur (geothermal plant in this area).

The earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

This are not volcano related. This happens when cold water (polluted) is being pumped back into the ground. That makes earthquake swarms like this one common.

March 22, 2014March 22, 2014

Deep earthquake in Hamarinn volcano

Yesterday (21-March-2014) an extremly deep earthquake took place in Hamarinn volcano (part of Bárðarbunga volcano often called Loki-Fögrufjöll). The magnitude of this earthquake was just 1,4 but its depth was around 29,7 km. The location of this earthquake was just 10,4 km North-East of Hamarinn volcano (main). So it possibly was inside Hamarinn main volcano system, but I am not sure on that detail.

The earthquake activity in Hamarinn volcano and Öræfajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Earthquakes that take place this depth happen due to magma movement or small dike intrusion at depth. I don’t know what is the actual case here, this might just be an earthquake at depth. The crust has the depth of 40 km at this location (study on this can be found here) due to hotspot [second link here] activity that has increased the thickness of the crust. Last eruption in Hamarinn volcano was in July 2011, it was an minor eruption that took place and lasted just for few hours and did not breach the glacier.

Post updated at 21:02 UTC.

March 21, 2014March 21, 2014

Two earthquakes in Hekla volcano. Deep earthquake in Katla volcano

Yesterday (20-March-2014) and today (21-March-2014) there were earthquakes in Hekla volcano. The earthquake yesterday had the magnitude of 1,2 and depth of 9,1 km. The earthquake today had the magnitude of 1,2 and the depth of 7,1 km.

The two earthquakes in Hekla volcano and the deep earthquake in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

This earthquake activity does not mean Hekla volcano is about to erupt. What this means is unclear at present time.

Katla volcano

Today there was also an deep earthquake in Katla volcano. This earthquake had the magnitude of 1,4 and the depth of 21,8 km. Earthquakes at this depth are due to some change in the magma at depth. This however does not mean Katla volcano is about to erupt. Far from it. Earthquake activity in Katla volcano is normal and possibly below normal activity, it is at least certainly not above winter earthquake activity at present time.

Monitoring

It is possible to monitor Hekla and Katla volcanoes here on IMO website.
I have my webicorder website here.
I have list of online web cameras here.
Live from Iceland web camera can be found here.

Icelandic news about this

Tveir jarðskjálftar við Heklu (mbl.is)

March 19, 2014March 19, 2014

Earthquake in Hekla volcano. Deep earthquake in Katla volcano

On the 17-March-2014 at 19:59 UTC an earthquake took place in Hekla volcano. This earthquake had the magnitude of 1,0 and the depth of 9,1 km. I did record it on my geophone just barley, it is possible to watch for activity in Hekla volcano here. This earthquake does not mean that Hekla volcano is about to erupt, but it is interesting anyway. What it means remains unclear at the present time.

The earthquake in Hekla volcano. It is marked with an blue dot. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Katla volcano

Yesterday (18-March-2014) an deep earthquake (in the picture above, in the central caldera) took place in Katla volcano. The magnitude of this earthquake was 0,7 and this earthquake had the depth of 28,9 km. As was mentioned in comment yesterday. This earthquake in it self is no important from the looks of it. No special harmonic activity took place following this earthquake.

All quiet. Just wind and ocean waves. The spike on the 19-March-2014 is due to earthquake in Goðabunga part of Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

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I did try to go advertisement free (for the second time) and it failed again. Since I need the extra income from this website and from my writing work to make a proper living. I want to be advertisement free, as I did explain here (I have updated this post now). Going advertisement free requires donations that I am simply not getting and it is an fact one cannot be without money. Without it it’s just hunger and pain. As it is not far from what I am currently experiencing (I got €0,49 in my bank account at current time or 3,61 DKK). The thing however is that I am well advised in not having any money so I prepare a little in terms of buying food but currently I am at my limit. I am not sure what the rest of this month (March) is going to be for me. This site might one day be advertisement free, that is however not going to happen until I can afford it. When that might be I have no idea.

The job question:

Many people wonders why I don’t have a job and many people expect that I have a job and don’t ask for donations. I have asperger’s syndrome [Second link here]. I have problem with working a normal job. It’s not that I am not physically able, because I am. But I have problem with communications and dealing with work social things. I have issues with normal social stuff on every day. I can and I have worked for a short period of time, but such things always drain me mentally and make things difficult for me in the long run. It would also prevent me from monitoring earthquakes and volcanoes as I do now. I am also writing more stories and I have already published one, even if I have not yet sold many copies so far.

Blog post updated at 20:45 UTC. Time of the earthquake corrected.
Blog post updated at 21:55 UTC.

March 3, 2014

Three earthquakes in Hekla volcano system

Today (03-Mars-2014) three earthquakes where detected in Hekla volcano system. All three earthquakes where small with none having magnitude above 1,0.

The earthquakes in Hekla volcano system. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

No other change has been detected in Hekla volcano at this time. Earthquake activity has been taking place in Hekla volcano in the past. It is not clear what is the source or why this earthquake activity is taking place. It is possible to watch Hekla volcano here on my webicorders and live images can be found here. If something happens, but I think it is unlikely to do so at present time.

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February 26, 2014February 26, 2014

Two magnitude 3,4 earthquakes in TFZ

Today (26-February-2014) at 08:06 and 08:12 UTC two earthquakes with the magnitude of 3,4 took place in TFZ. This earthquakes where felt in Ólafsfirði. This earthquake activity started on Monday and is continuing.

The two 3,4 magnitude earthquakes on TFZ. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Historical and newest earthquake activity in this area of TFZ.Image is from here (Icelandic). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

The earthquake activity in TFZ is ongoing. I am expecting more earthquakes in this area as is. When they might take place is impossible to know as of now. It is possible to monitor for earthquake activity in TFZ here (and here, Icelandic Meteorologist Office website). Any earthquake larger then magnitude 2,0 is going to appear on here. The larger the earthquake, more clearly it is going to appear on my webicorders.

February 25, 2014February 25, 2014

Deep earthquake in Hamarinn volcano

Today (25-February-2014) at 09:49 UTC an deep earthquake took place in Hamarinn volcano (is under Bárðarbunga volcano at GVP database as Loki-Fögrufjöll). This earthquake had the depth of 29,6 km and magnitude of 1,8. This means it was created by magma movement rather then tectonic forces.

The earthquake that had the depth of 29,6 km is located 12,5 km south of Hamarinn (64,417 -17,605). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Hamarinn volcano last erupted in July 2011 [coverage of that can be found here] in an minor eruption that lasted for few hours but resulted in glacier flood in the area. Since then activity has dropped, but over the recent months it has been picking up again slowly. So far it is just earthquakes at depth. Harminn volcano is highly active volcano, even if it is not constantly erupting at the moment. The reason is that it is almost centre above the hot spot fuels the eruption activity in this area.

Blog post updated at 21:28 UTC.

February 24, 2014February 24, 2014

Earthquake swarm on TFZ

Today (24-February-2014) at 06:49 UTC an earthquake swarm started on TFZ. Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 3,0. No other earthquake has so far been larger.

The earthquake swarm in TFZ. It is aligned in north-south direction. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

It is possible to monitor for earthquakes here with 5 minute delay. The activity appears most clearly on Böðvarshólar and Bjarghús geophone stations. This appears to be an continued activity from the earthquake swarm that started back in October 2012. I am expecting more earthquakes in the area since I don’t expect this activity to be over yet. Quiet times between earthquake activity should be expected. For some unknown reason that is how this area behaves and it is not known why that is.

February 22, 2014February 22, 2014

Two minor earthquakes detected with my geophone network

It does not happen often. But I do detect earthquakes sometimes that Icelandic Meteorological Office does not detect on it’s network. The reason for that is simple. This earthquakes are too small to be detected by the SIL stations far away. My geophone network is able to detect earthquakes down to ML-2,0 when weather is good and if they are close enough. It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. The earthquakes that I recorded on 20-February-2014 had the magnitude above ML0,0. What the magnitude is exactly I do not know. Since the software that I use does not allow for exact magnitude calculations (far as I know). The first earthquake took place at 12:36 UTC.

The earlier earthquake that I detected at Bjarghús geophone station. This earthquake had the magnitude of 0,1 to 0,5. This image is released under Creative Commons Licence. See CC Licence page for more details.

The earlier earthquakes at Böðvarshólar geophone station. This earthquake had the magnitude of 0,1 to 0,5. This image is released under Creative Commons Licence. See CC Licence page for more details.

A second earthquake took place at 18:41 UTC. It was slightly larger than the first earthquake.

The second earthquake at Bjarghús geophone station. This earthquake had the magnitude of 0,8 to 1,2 and distance of around 14 km. This image is released under Creative Commons Licence. See CC Licence page for more details.

The earthquake at Böðvarshólar geophone station. This earthquake had the magnitude of 0,8 to 1,2 and an distance around 17 km.This image is released under Creative Commons Licence. See CC Licence page for more details.

All three channels of the second earthquake. This is Bjarghús geophone station. This image is released under Creative Commons Licence. See CC Licence page for more details.

All three channels of the second earthquake. This is Böðvarshólar geophone station. This image is released under Creative Commons Licence. See CC Licence page for more details.

I have not recorded any more earthquakes since this activity. Last earthquake before that took place in the year 2006 best to my knowledge. That was just one earthquake and Icelandic Meteorological Office was unable to locate that earthquake too due to lack of SIL stations in the area of my geophone. Back in 2006 I had one geophone and it was located in the village of Hvammstangi where I used to live. I don’t know if any more earthquakes are going to take place. It is difficult to know if any more earthquakes are going to take place. If they do they are going to appear on my geophones (Böðvarshólar and Bjarghús) in Húnaþing Vestra.

February 17, 2014

Minor earthquake swarm in Katla volcano

Over the past two days minor earthquakes have been taking place in Katla volcano. This is just minor earthquake activity. None of the earthquakes so far have reached the magnitude 1,0 that I know of.

Earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

What is interesting about this earthquake activity is that it is taking place inside the caldera of Katla volcano and it is taking place in high winter. When earthquake activity is normally low. What this means is unknown as is and I do not think an eruption is imminent in Katla volcano. This activity is however something to keep an eye on. Since Katla volcano is known to have erupted as early in May. Last such eruption took place in the year 1721 and lasted until October that same year (+-45 days). It is not known if eruptions can take place earlier, I am not going to rule it out even if it is not documented in historical documents about past eruptions in Katla volcano.

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