Category: Earthquakes

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Small earthquake swarm in Krísuvík volcano

Currently there is a small earthquake swarm in Krísuvík volcano. This earthquake swarm is small and is only about 20 or so earthquakes at current time. It is impossible to know if this earthquake swarm is going to continue or grow at present time. But it is not uncommon in this area for a small earthquake swam to be a warm up for a larger one. But as always there is just a wait and see what happens in the area.

The largest earthquakes in this earthquake swarm have reached up to ML2.0 in size so far.

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Earthquake swarm at Upptyppingar

I notice that there is a small, yet growing earthquake swarm taking place close to a small mountain named Upptyppingar. This mountain is within the fissure swarm of Kverkfjöll volcano but the area is in it self not active volcanically.

Few years ago (2007) there was a earthquake swarm in this area that did have something about 2000 earthquakes over a 48 hour period. The reason why there is earthquake activity in this area is due to magma being pushed up into the bedrock below. This process is something of the same that took place before the Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption. But with the major difference that here is no central volcano doing this.

Earthquake pictures from IMO from that time. No map sadly as I forgot to save them or they are stuck on my main computer that holds all my geological data.

Text updated at 03:28 CET on 18.02.2011. Minor error fixes in the text.

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New earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano

A new earthquake swarm has started in Hengill volcano. This earthquake swarm is in the same location as a earthquake swarm that took place there few weeks ago (see here).

So far this earthquake swarm has mostly been made out of small earthquakes. But all earthquakes are below ML2.0 in size so far.

It is unclear why this earthquake swarm is taking place. But the reason might be that the geothermal power plant that is in the area is pumping down or up ground water.

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Continued quiet time in earthquakes and volcanoes

It seems that the quiet time continues in Iceland. Besides small earthquakes swarms in Pesthnjúkar volcano and small earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano, there was also a earthquake swarm in Bárðarbunga volcano that did get into the world press. Other then this it has been quiet and no volcanoes have been showing signs of starting a eruption soon.

It is all quiet in Iceland, so not a lot of activity updates coming from me at the moment. But I hope to write soon a information post about one of Iceland volcanoes or earthquakes zones to pass the time.

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Earthquake swarm in Presthnjúkar volcano (Langjökull glacier)

A earthquake swarm of 70 something earthquakes have been taking place close to Presthnjúkar volcano in Iceland. This activity is tectonic in nature and is because of the rift zone. This volcano is located close to south end of Langjökull glacier, but Langjökull glacier covers two volcanoes (north Hveravellir and south Presthnjúkar). One at the north end and a other at the south end. This volcano last erupted in the year 3500 BC (?) according to GVP.


Picture is from Icelandic Met Office web page. Copyright belongs to them.

The earthquake swarm in south Langjökull volcano.

Earthquake swarms are common in this area and happen regularly. But last large earthquake swarm in this area was in June 2009. The largest earthquake that did happen today was felt in nearby area according to Icelandic news.

Icelandic news about this earthquake swarm. Use Google Translate at own risk.

Skjálftahrina á milli Langjökuls og Þórisjökuls (Vísir.is)
Jarðskjálftahrina í Langjökli (Rúv.is)

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Eartquake swarm in Hengill volcano

The Icelandic volcano known as Hengill did have a minor earthquake swarm of 20 something earthquakes today. This earthquake swarm might be related to geothermal power plant activity nearby (by pumping down or up water in the area). But at the moment I do not have it confirmed and this has also not been confirmed by the news.

This earthquake swarm in this area is normal and this volcano has several every year as it located on the main rift zone in Iceland. The last large earthquake swarm in this volcano took place during the year 1997 to 2000. Then many earthquake up to size Mb5.0 took place in Hengill volcano.

Icelandic news. Use Google translate at own risk.

Um 20 skjálftar hafa mælst (Vísir.is)

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Minor earthquake swarm east of Grímsey Island

Today there has been a minor earthquake swarm east of Grímsey Island (is in Tjörnes Fracture Zone). The number of earthquakes that have taken place at the moment is something around 20 to 30 earthquakes. All of the earthquakes so far are less then ML3.0 in size.

This earthquake swarm in TFZ is so far quiet and mostly small in size. It remains unclear as always if this earthquake swarm changes or starts a new earthquake swarm that is bigger. But this area is known for that one earthquake swarm starts a new one in the TFZ.

So far this does not appear to be happening in the TFZ. But it is worth mentioning that TFZ is highly active earthquake zone. But there are no volcanoes there. Except at the south and north end of the TFZ. Where the rift zone ends and where the rift zone starts again.

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Geologist worry about earthquake activity in Kistufell field (Bárðarbunga volcano)

In my last blog post I did tell the news about the possibility about a eruption in the Kistufell volcano field. But that field is a part of Bárðarbunga volcano system and has a lot of earthquake activity since the beginning of earthquake recording in Iceland.

In the tonight news on Rúv about this area, Páll Einarsson geologist at University of Iceland says in the news on Rúv that there is a good reason to worry about this area. As it is one of the most active one in Iceland, but it is directly above the mantle plume under Iceland. Páll Einarsson also says in the news on Rúv that before the eruption in the year 1996, that took place in a volcanic ridge now named Gjálp there was a increase in earthquake activity in Kistufell field.

But due to continues earthquake activity there is it hard to know what is exactly going on there. Páll Einarsson also says in the news on Rúv that it is a problem that this area of Iceland lacks the proper coverage with seismometers. But they are few in this area and that makes it harder to detect the depth and the location of the earthquake that take place in this area of Iceland.

After the Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption in the year 2010. It seems that geologist in Iceland take earthquake swarms more seriusly then they did before. As they did learn from Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption that not all volcano start with few earthquakes just before they erupt, as is common with few volcanoes in Iceland.

The news from Rúv on this matter. Use Google Translate to understand.

Full ástæða til að hafa varann á (Rúv.is)

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There might be a volcano eruption in less then a one year time in Báðarbunga volcano (Kistufell field)

I do not know if this is Icelandic media sensationalism or just a simple misquote in the news article. But according to Morgunblaðið (mbl.is) in a interview with the geologist named Sigurlaugar Hjaltadóttir (works at Icelandic Met Office) she sad that there is more risk of a eruption in north-west side of Vatnajökull glacier due to the high earthquake activity in the area. But while the earthquakes continue to be at great depth, there is a less chance of a eruption in the area.

But she might be referring to is that a earthquake activity in the area might be increasing because of Grímsfjall volcano and Bárðarbunga volcano interaction. But it remains be seen if that is the case or not here. It is however clear that only time is going to tell us if there is going to be a eruption in this area soon or not.

The news in Icelandic. Please use Google Translate or something similar to understand.

Gæti gosið innan árs (mbl.is)

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The earthquake activity at Kistufell (Bárðarbunga volcano)

There is been a highly localized earthquake swarm in Kistufell area in the highland. This area is well known in Iceland for high earthquake activity and often makes earthquakes that are close to Mb5.0 in size. The current earthquake swarm is rather small in comparison to many earthquake swarms that have taken place in this area before.

This does not mean that there is going to be a eruption there. As this area is highly activate in regards to tectonics forces in this area. But this area can erupt and has done so in the past. But this area belongs to the Bárðarbunga volcano and it has fissure types of eruptions when it erupts.

Here is a picture with the activity of this area in December 2009. As can be seen there, this area has a lot of earthquake activity almost all of the time. The text with the picture can be found here in Icelandic. Use Google Translate with the normal risks involved.