Category: Earthquakes

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Deep earthquake activity south-east of Katla volcano

Yesterday (5-April-2021) from 17:12 UTC until 17:36 UTC. This where all smaller earthquakes and according to Icelandic Met Office (Kristín on twitter) this area last had this earthquake swarm in this area eight years ago just south-east of Katla volcano.

Mýrdalsjökull glacier that contains Katla volcano. Just south east of Katla volcano a small cluster of earthquake appeared at great depth in the crust
The earthquake activity south-east of Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity at this location has never resulted in an volcanic eruption in this location during historical times. The depth of this earthquakes was mostly around 19 km and magnitude was from Mw0,7 to Mw1,0.

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Earthquake activity in Öræfajökull volcano

On Sunday (4-April-2021) a small of small earthquakes took place in Öræfajökull volcano. Most of the earthquakes that happened where deep, with most depth at 11,3 km.

Blue dots showing earthquake activity in Öræfajökull volcano. The blue dots are on top of each other.
Earthquake activity in Öræfajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is unclear if this means anything at this point. Earthquake activity in Öræfajökull volcano at this point has been slow to start and happens without much warning as is. This might be an early sign that more activity is ahead in Öræfajökull volcano but only time is going to make it clear if that is the case.

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Update on the eruption in Fagradalsfjall (including Geldingadalir valley) on 6-April-2021

This is a short update on the eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain as it is part of Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano.

There has been a slight increase in micro-earthquake activity along the dyke after the new fissures opened up in Fagradalsfjall mountain. Most of them are interestingly forced on a area close to Keilir mountain.

Earthquake activity on the Reykjanes peninsula many earthquakes form a direct line with the magma dyke that formed in February and March. Few red dots close to Keilir mountain
The earthquake activity on the Reykjanes peninsula. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
  • It has been reported that lava flow from the new and old eruption site is now more than what was most at the old eruption site (Geldingadalir valley). It is now estimated to be total 10m3/second.
  • Craters are building up at the new eruption site. That might change the lava flow long term and there is a risk that it is going to flow towards Geldingadalir valley when that change in lava flow happens.
  • There is a high risk of new fissures opening up both north and south of Geldingadalir valley (1st eruption) and north of Fagradalsfjall mountain eruption (2nd eruption).
  • Lava is now flowing into Meradalir valley. That valley is far larger then Geldingadalir valley and won’t be filled up easily. There seems to be more water in this valley and that might result in lava explosions if the lava gets that far down into the valley.

Currently there are no other new information that I can find. Next update should be on Friday 9th April 2021 unless something major happens.

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New fissure opens up north-east of current eruption in Geldingadalir valley

This is a short article.

New fissure started to open up at around 11:37 UTC on 5-April-2021 when a magnitude Mw1,5 earthquake (most likely) took place in Fagradalsfjall mountain. The new fissure is expanding and but I am now estimating that the current length of the new fissure is 1,2 km based on Rúv News web camera view. The new fissure is north-east of the earlier eruption in Geldingadalir valley any.

Small eruption fissure that is forming north-east of earlier eruption
The new fissure opening up. Copyright of this image belongs to Rúv. From Rúv web camera.

I’ll post update about this later today when I know more.

Update at 16:29 UTC

The larger fissure is around 300 meters long according to reports. Part of it seems to be under its own lava flow based on what I am seeing on new videos of the fissure. The second fissure is about 10 to 30 meters long. There is also a one single eruption vent in the area just outside of the fissure areas. The lava flow is going into Meradalir below the new fissures. It might soon go into a what seems to be a lake or a dried up lake in that valley that is a lot larger and deeper than Geldingadalir valley that is now full of lava. The eruption in the original craters continues but at lot less energy levels than before. This might only be temporary change but it is impossible to know for sure what is going to happen.

Drone video of the new fissure from Morgunblaðið

Nýtt dróna­mynd­skeið af sprung­unni (mbl.is)

Next update is going to be again in few hours as this situation develops.

Pictures are from Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management.

Two eruption fissures erupting lava from a the ground and the lava is orange in colour. Lava river goes down hill and into a valley
The eruption from a helicopter as seen today. Picture is from Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management. Free to use.
River of lava flowing downhill into a valley called Meradalir
The lava river into Meradalir valley. Picture is from Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management. The pictures is free to use.

Article updated at 16:36 UTC.

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Earthquake activity South-West of Keilir mountain

During the night 4-April-2021 at 02:04 UTC an earthquake with magnitude Mw3,0 at 5,7 km depth took place 1,5 km south-west of Keilir mountain. This earthquake was felt in Reykjavík area and outside of it. Based on the earthquake location it looks like it is located in the dyke or close to it. This is part of the Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano.

Few dots on Reykjanes peninsula that shows the earthquake activity during the last 48 hours
Earthquake activity on Reykjanes peninsula. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Along the magma dyke there seems to be forming focused points of earthquake activity. Currently I am seeing two location. The first location is around the eruption in Geldingadalir valley (former) and the second location that seems to be forming is just south of Keilir mountain. It has been my experience during the eruptions over the last few years that this type of earthquake activity might suggests that new location where eruptions might take place based on this earthquake activity. It is impossible to know if anything is going to happen. There is no change in GPS data since the eruption started. The GPS data can be viewed here.

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Update on the eruption in Geldingadalir valley (former) on 2-April-2021

This is a short update of the activity in the eruption in Geldingadalir valley (former, as the valley has now filled up with lava or close to being filled with lava). The eruption is taking place in Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano system. The eruption has been stable  all week. On Sunday 28-March-2021 other side of the craters that had built up collapsed into the lava stream that has formed below the erupting craters. Both craters are now about equal erupting size.

  • The lava that is now erupting is primitive Tholeiitic magma  based on the chemical analyse from University of Iceland. That report can be found here (pdf).
  • Both  craters are unstable and often suffer a collapse and rock slides and that often changes their look suddenly and drastically in a moment.
  • Icelanders continue to act like idiots in front of the web cameras that show the eruption online (I think all of them). The Rúv web camera is a large structure there that is easy to avoid (with solar panels and everything).
  • Lava boiling is a common occurrence that often breaks up through the newly formed crust in the new lava field. This happens without warning and often reshapes the lava field in a instance.
  • Spatter activity in the eruption craters often drops but the flow of lava seems to be stable based on the web cameras and observation reported in the news by volcano scientists according to the latest news I was able to find.
  • It is unclear when lava is going to start flowing out of Geldingadalir valley (former). It might start to happen this weekend or by next week.
  • Based on what I am observing on the web cameras at the writing of this article. A collapse might happen in the erupting crater on the right side on the screen (I don’t know what is north and south on the web camera). When that or if that happens is impossible to know, but the whole structure that I am seeing doesn’t look that stable when I write this article.
  • At the writing of this article a large collapse took place in the erupting crater on the left side on the camera. Resulting in block of the erupting vent and resulting in a lot of spatter activity as a result as it clears it self of the rock that fell into it.

Currently there are no signs of this eruption about to end. This eruption might go on for a long time. Next update about the eruption in Geldingadalir valley (former) should be on 9-April-2021 unless something major happens in the eruption.

Update 14:12 UTC on 3-April-2021

Two craters erupting. On the left side of the screen the crater there is showing splatter pattern while the one of the right side of the screen shows less spatter activity but small lava fall from the main eruption crater.
The eruption craters at 13:56 UTC on 3-April-2021. Copyright of this image belongs to Rúv. From Rúv YouTube stream of the eruption.

There is now in the northern crater (right side on screen?) a small lava fall. Its not big but it is few meters high. There are variations in spatter activity and the whole crater structure remains unstable. There are many collapses and changes now over one day.

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Cloudflare

I have now added Cloudflare to this website. That should prevent any problem with using it when a large spike in traffic happens as was the case when the eruption in Geldingadalir valley first started.

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I re-applied to Amazon Associate accounts and that is now active but my website has to make a sale in next 180 days to make that permanent again. This rule also applies to old accounts. If you shop from Amazon using the Amazon banners (United Kingdom, United States, Germany) gives me a little extra income.

Article updated at 14:12 UTC on 3-April-2021

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Earthquake swarm east of Grímsey island on 1-April-2021

Yesterday (1-April-2021) an earthquake swarm took place east of Grímsey island. The largest earthquakes in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw3,8 and Mw3,6 and where possibly felt even if that was not reported. Total of 142 earthquakes have taken place when this article is written.

earthquake activity east of Grímsey island. Two green starts on top of each other show the location of the earthquakes with magnitude above 3. Large amounts of red dots shows the location of smaller earthquakes that form a direct line few km long.
Earthquake activity east of Grímsey island. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Earthquake activity is very common in this part of the Tjörnes Fracture Zone and it is now just around one year since a large earthquake swarm took place far west of Grímsey island in June 2020. It is difficult to know of more earthquake activity is going to happen at this location in next few days.

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Update on the eruption in Geldingadalir on 27-March-2021

This is a short update on the situation about the eruption on 27-March-2021. This eruption is now classified as to be happening in Krýsuvík volcano system.

  • The eruption seems to be slowly increasing. The small craters on the left (on the web camera) have now merged into one larger crater. It is possible that the two remaining craters might merge into one large crater.
  • The magma fro this eruption is coming from 17 – 20 km depth and that can result in a eruption that can last a long time.
  • Geldingadalir valley is now almost filled with lava. It is expected to overflow by Easter in about 6 days based on current eruption rate of the lava.
  • Lake of lava has formed in the Geldingadalir valley. Videos have been posted on Facebook and other social media showing how dangerous the lava field currently is. Do not walk on the fresh lava. It is going to take decades and possibly centuries to cool down to a safe level.
  • The lava at it thickest is estimated now to be 20 to 30 meters deep.
  • There are fluctuations in the eruptions. Sometimes its slightly more and sometimes slightly less based on observations with the web camera on Rúv.
  • It seems that a mountain is being built by this eruption. How that is going to progress is difficult to know for sure.

In general there has not been a lot of change in the eruption since it started a week ago (19-March-2021).  Next update is going to be hopefully on 2-April-2021 unless something major happens in this eruption.

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Minor earthquake swarm on Tjörnes Fracture Zone (east of Grímsey island)

Today (25-March-2021) a minor earthquake swarm took place east of Grímsey island. Earthquake swarms are common in this area. Largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw3,0. This earthquake swarm might not be over.

earthquake activity east of Grímsey island. Green star shows one earthquake with magnitude 3. Few red dots show smaller earthquakes
The earthquake activity east of Grímsey island. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Earthquake activity in the Tjörnes Fracture Zone often starts slowly before increasing. I don’t know if that is going to happen now since this area has been having a lot of earthquake activity in recent months.

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Moving Iceland geology to a bigger server

Because of current high traffic to this website I plan on moving it to a slightly larger server in the time between April to June. I am not sure yet when I can afford the change since this is a slightly more expensive option at 79€ a month from current price of 9,5€ a month (I also have other websites here that I won’t move since they get little to no traffic at all). I am also expecting far higher traffic to this website in the future when other Icelandic volcanoes start to go active for a long and short time period.

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Update on the eruption in Geldingadalur on 22-March-2021

This is a short article about the eruption in Geldingadalur. The volcano that is erupting continues to be Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano system. This might change at later date. This article is written on 22-March-2021 at 17:30 UTC.

  • The eruption is now mostly just in one crater. There is some activity in two other craters but it seems to be getting smaller as the eruption goes on.
  • This eruption is tiny and one of the smallest eruption observed in Iceland.
  • There is risk of new eruption opening up once this eruption ends or starts to get close to ending.
  • There is a fissure in the ground on the right side of the main crater (as seen on the web camera). A lot of volcanic gas comes from that fissure but no eruption has taken place so far.
  • There has not been any noticeable deflation according to GPS data from today (22-March-2021).
  • The main crater is now estimated to be 30 meters high but it is unstable and collapses often.
  • The lava is estimated going to fill Geldingadalur valley in 10 to 14 days if the eruption continues this long.
  • Earthquake activity has almost stopped on Reykjanes peninsula after the eruption started. Once the eruption stops earthquake activity might increase again.

 

The Geldingadalur valley seen from above with Google Earth. Small valley with small mountains on most sides.
This is a image from Google Earth and shows Geldingadalur valley that is now being filled slowly with lava. Copyright of this image belongs to Google Earth/Google and other companies that Google has made this image available with its Google Earth program.

The last eruption period on Reykjanes peninsula lasted from the ~700 to the year ~1400. It can be estimated that current eruption period that has now started on Reykjanes peninsula is going to last until the year ~2400 to the year ~2600. During this time shortest time between eruptions is 1 year but the longest time between eruptions might be up to 10 years. How this going to be exactly is a big question but this estimate of mine is based on the limited historical data that I have read somewhere (I no longer remember where that was).

News items with videos

Tower breaks again, lava gushes forth (Rúv.is)

Web cameras now with English text

Live feed from Iceland volcano (Rúv.is)
Live from Geldingadalir volcano, Iceland (YouTube)

Rúv has moved the stream to YouTube only.

Beint: Eld­gosið í Fagra­dals­fjalli (mbl.is, this camera is on the other side compared to the Rúv camera)

Update at 23:57 UTC

According to the evening news on Rúv the lava and magma that is now flowing into the valley of Geldingadalur is around 1200C and is a primitive magma of Tholeiitic magma series (Wikipedia). The source of this eruption is a magma chamber with the depths of 17 km to 20 km and the origins of the magma it self is far deeper into the hotspot below Iceland. This magma has a lot of CO and CO2 gases that are highly dangerous. There is also a lot of SO2 gas in the eruption and that is dangerous gas.

News in Icelandic about this

Hraunkvikan sýnir beintengingu við miðju möttulsins

Rate of updates

Since the eruption is now in stable activity I am going to limit update to if anything major happens. Next update about the eruption should be on Friday 26-March-2021. Other activity in Iceland is going to be reported as normal if anything happens.

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Article updated at 18:32 UTC. New web camera added.
Article updated at 20:50 UTC. Web camera information updated.
Article updated at 23:57 UTC. Information added about the eruption.