Category: Earthquakes

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Swarm of low frequency earthquakes in Torfafjallajökull volcano

According to an announcement made by Icelandic Met Office there has been a swarm of low frequency earthquakes in Torfajökull volcano since midnight of 28-October-2021.  The earthquakes don’t appear clearly on the Icelandic Met Office map but they can be seen on nearby SIL stations. According to Icelandic Met Office the rate of earthquake activity is about 1 – 2 earthquake every 15 minutes.

A image show earthquake activity in Torfajökull volcano as it appears on nearby SIL station. This is a plot with line showing every hour. The earthquake activity appears as thickness on the earthquake plot.
Earthquake activity in Torfajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
Harmonic tremor plot showing the earthquake activity in Torfajökull volcano since midnight as it appears on Slysaalda SIL station tremor plot.
Harmonic tremor activity showing the earthquake activity. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There are two things that can create this type of low frequency activity. The first one is water that has been superheated in the crust. The second option is that magma is now moving in Torfajökull volcano. This type of activity has happened before without any eruption happening. I think that is going to be the same now at the writing of this article. Since this is an active volcano the situation can change quickly and without warning.

There are no web cameras in the area that I know of. It is remote and there is almost no mobile coverage at this location. If there is a mobile connection, it is limited to 2G (GSM) or slow 3G connection.

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Earthquake north of Hveragerði town

At 01:28 UTC on 27-October-2021 an earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,3 took place 4 km north of Hveragerði town. This earthquake was clearly felt in Hveragerði and nearby area. No damage has been reported because of this earthquake according to earliest news.

Earthquake north of Hveragerði shown with a green star
Earthquake north of Hveragerði. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There is a chance there is going to be more earthquake activity in this area. But few earthquakes with no more activity is also common in SISZ.

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Fewer earthquakes close to Keilir, no eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain for almost one month

Earthquake activity continues close to Keilir mountain. But it remains at depth of 5 to 6 km and doesn’t show any sign that it is about to move to the surface. More than 10000 earthquakes have been recorded and 18 earthquakes have been recorded with magnitude above Mw3,0. This is according to Icelandic Met Office.

Earthquake activity close to mountain Keilir marked by a green star close to it of the map on Reykjanes peninsula
Earthquake activity close to Keilir mountain on Reykjanes peninsula. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

The eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain (more information at Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja website at Global Volcanism Program) has not been active since 19-September-2021 and there are no signs that the eruption is about to restart soon. Global Volcanism Program no longer updates its information for this volcano as an active eruption. Icelandic scientists in eruptions have not declared the eruption over. It should be expected that the eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain is over for now, but it can start again at the same location or at new location in few weeks time or maybe even few years from now.

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Earthquake swarm in Reykjanes volcano

Yesterday (12-October-2021) an earthquake swarm took place in Reykjanes volcano. Largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw3,3 and the earthquake swarm was out in the ocean not far from the coastline.

Two green stars out in the ocean shows the location of the earthquake swarm that was happening on Reykjanes ridge in the volcano of Reykjanes. Green star is also close to Keilir volcano that had an activity yesterday also.
Earthquake activity out in the ocean on Reykjanes ridge. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is impossible to know for sure if this earthquake activity is directly connected to magma movements in this area. It is possible, but there have been some sign of magma moving in the crust in this area. The magma is moving but is not erupting or starting an eruption. Earthquake activity seems to be growing in this area of Reykjanes peninsula and Reykjanes ridge after the eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain stopped.

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Inflation and earthquake activity in Askja volcano

Inflation has been increasing in Askja volcano over the last few weeks. According to latest news that inflation is now at 14 cm, since the inflation was detected at the end of August. On Saturday 9-October-2021 an earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,2 was detected in Askja volcano (I’ll try and add the picture later if I remember). This is was the strongest earthquake in Askja volcano in the last 20 years according to the news.

Askja is remote and there are no or limited amounts of web cameras in the area. With winter arriving going there is impossible for most people. If an eruption happens this winter the best view is probably going to be harmonic tremor data until pictures appears from Icelandic Met Office or someone with an air plane (if the weather allows for that).

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Ongoing earthquake swarm close to Keilir mountain

The earthquake swarm with Keilir mountain continues today (2-October-2021) and largest earthquake at the writing of this article had a magnitude of Mw4,2. This might change without warning.

Green stars on Reykjanes peninsula close to the mountain Keilir. Shows where the current activity is.
The earthquake activity close to Keilir mountain. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Based on what I am seeing it is my view that magma is the reason why this earthquake activity is happening. The magma seems trapped, based on the earthquake activity and that is interesting. This suggest that the feeder channel, that possibly started at this location has closed up and that is the reason why the eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain stopped. At least that is the working idea, if it is true I don’t know.

Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management and Icelandic Met Office has warned people against going to Keilir mountain because of risk of volcano eruption or large earthquakes.

It is unclear at the writing of this article if there are changes to hydrothermal activity close to Keilir mountain. There have been reports about it, but they remain unconfirmed at the writing of this article.

There is now a risk of an earthquake with magnitude of Mw6,0 in the area of Keilir mountain. The earthquake activity shows a pattern of high and low activity every few hours. Why this happens is not well understood at the writing of this article.

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Askja volcano started inflating in August 2021

Icelandic Met Office published the news today that Askja volcano has started to inflate.  This inflation started in August 2021 and has been measured at 5 cm a month. The inflation is happening just outside the Askja lake in area known as Ólafsgígar (Ólaf craters).

Inflation map of Askja volcano. Triangle in the centre of Askja volcano caldera show the location of the inflation in red to blue colour.
Inflation in Askja volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is impossible to know if this is going to result in any eruption. This inflation however seems to have resulted in earthquake activity in Askja volcano. Most of the earthquakes so far have been minor in magnitude.

Inflation map of Askja volcano. It show displacements in north - south and east - west directions and up displacement of 5 cm
Inflation in Askja volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Icelandic Met Office announcement

Land rís við Öskju (Icelandic)

Uplift signal detected in Askja volcano

Icelandic News

Grannt fylgst með landrisi við Öskju (Rúv.is)

Landris við Öskju í fyrsta sinn í áratugi (mbl.is)

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Earthquake activity in Esjufjöll volcano

Today (3-September-2021) an small earthquake swarm took place in Esjufjöll volcano. This is the first earthquake activity in a while and suggest that there might be about to start more earthquake activity in Öræfajökull volcano. Since activity in Esjufjöll volcano seems to result in activity in Öræfajökull volcano. How that works and why is unknown.

Few dots in Vatnajökull galcier close to its border. Showing the earthquake activity in Esjufjöll volcano.
Earthquake activity in Esjufjöll volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Last eruption in Esjufjöll volcano may have happened in the year 1927 but that remains unconfirmed. If that eruption happened, it only lasted for 4 to 5 days at most. This area is covered with a glacier, so any eruption there is going to result in a glacier flood.

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Minor earthquake swarm in Tjörnes Fracture Zone yesterday (30-August-2021)

Yesterday (30-August-2021) an small earthquake swarm took place east of Grímsey island in Tjörnes Fracture Zone. Two largest earthquakes had a magnitude of Mw3,2.

Earthquake swarm east of Grímsey island. Two green stars on top of each other.
Earthquakes east of Grímsey island. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake swarm seems to have stopped for now. This area has frequent earthquake swarms and activity in this area of Tjörnes Fracture Zone might start again without warning.

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Earthquake activity in Katla volcano

Today (14-August-2021) an earthquake with magnitude Mw3,1 took place in Katla volcano. Other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude.

Green star in the Katla volcano caldera along with dots showing smaller earthquakes that are spread in the caldera. Showing location of smaller earthquakes that have happened in last few days.
Earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity appears to be normal late summer activity in Katla volcano. There was a minor increase in conductivity in nearby glacier rivers in last few days, that suggests that cauldrons have been emptying their water this summer. This is normal and happens almost every summer due to glacier melt.