Category: Earthquakes

Posted on

Over 6000 earthquakes recorded on Reykjanes peninsula since start of January 2020

Latest news from Icelandic Met Office is that more than 6000 earthquakes have been recorded since start of January 2020 in the Reykjanes volcano and this is the most earthquake activity recorded in this area since start of digital earthquake records in 1991. Three dyke intrusion have been identified by Icelandic Met Office and it is my view that the fourth (and fifth?) might be out in the ocean close to Eldey island, due to no GPS measurements being available out in the ocean any dyke intrusion at that location is going to go undetected for a while.


The earthquake activity north of Grindavík town. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

In recent days there have been two earthquakes with magnitude Mw3,0 and Mw3,1. This earthquake activity is going to continue in this area. Inflation as measured so far has reached 60mm to 70mm. Inflation is taking place over a large area and this has started opening up old fissures and changing the pressure and strain in the crust in this area. Resulting in earthquakes as faults move because of the inflation.

Icelandic Met Office press releases

More research is needed to decipher the on-going activity at the Reykjanes Peninsula as a whole
Vísbendingar um nýtt kvikuinnskot á Reykjanesi (Icelandic, picture)

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. This April I am really broke because of unexpected tax bill from Denmark and other bills that I am paying (and other problems). Thanks for the support. 🙂

Posted on

Earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge yesterday (28-March 2020)

Yesterday (28-March 2020) there was an earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge. This was a short earthquake swarm at the writing of this article. Largest earthquakes in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw3,5. Total of seven earthquakes happened that were larger than magnitude Mw3,0. Earthquake activity has stopped at the writing of this of this article.


The earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is unclear if this earthquake swarm is connected to the earthquake activity north of Grindavík village. It is unclear if this is the volcano Reykjanes or some other volcano at this location (Eldey).

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Posted on

Earthquake swarm west of Kópasker village

Today (27-March 2020) an earthquake swarm took place this morning east of the village of Kópasker. This earthquake swarm seems to be mostly over now at the writing of this article. Largest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw3,1. Other earthquakes were smaller in magnitude.


Earthquake activity west of Kópasker village (green star). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This are normal tectonic earthquakes and don’t have any magma activity connected to them. This area of Tjörnes Fracture Zone has been seeing activity in recent months.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. It helps me running this website. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Posted on

Two strong earthquakes in Reykjanes volcano

Today (25-March 2020) two earthquakes happened in Reykjanes volcano. Largest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw3,1 and the second earthquake had a magnitude of Mw3,9. Other earthquakes were smaller in magnitude but this earthquake swarm seems to be over for now but activity in this area is ongoing and there is no signs that activity is going to stop in this area.


Earthquake activity on the Reykjanes peninsula in the volcano Reykjanes. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Inflation is ongoing in the area around Grindavík village and even if it is slower than in January it has not stopped. This explains the earthquake activity in this area. Activity happens in swarms and it is quiet between swarms. What is interesting is that time between swarms seems to be getting shorter and magnitude of some of the earthquakes seems to be getting stronger. I am not sure why that is.

Donations

Please remember to support my work. It helps me to keep this website going and writing on here. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Posted on

Earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík volcano

Yesterday (20-March 2020) an earthquake swarm took place in Krýsuvík volcano. Largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw3,0. This earthquake swarm has stopped as of writing of this article. It is unclear if this earthquake swarm is due to magma activity or just tectonic stresses.


Earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There have been earlier earthquake swarm in this same area in recent weeks after the activity at Reykjanes volcano started earlier this year. If that is connected remains a question.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Posted on

Increase in earthquake in Þorbjörn mountain (Reykjanes volcano)

Yesterday (19-March 2020) an earthquake swarm took place close to Grindavík town (Þorbjörn mountain) in Reykjanes volcano. This earthquake swarm was has several hundred earthquakes and many of the earthquakes were at shallow depth and it is not understood why that was. Largest earthquakes in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw3,0, Mw3,2 and Mw3,3. Other earthquakes that took place were smaller in magnitude. The earthquake swarm seems to be over for now but this activity happens in swarms and how long and how strong each swarm is different.


The earthquake activity north of Grindavík town. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Inflation continues in this area and that is the reason why this earthquake swarm activity happens. What seems to be happening now is that more activity is happening and it is happening over a wider area. At the writing of this article there are no signs that magma is finding a path to the surface.

Geophone website

I have now managed to make my geophone network active again. I had to move the software from (operating system) from Windows to Debian Linux because Windows 10 just doesn’t work for this. In the future I have to move my main computer to Debian Linux but it is going to be a little while until that happens because I need to backup data before I can change operating systems on my main earthquake computer (along with other problems that I need to resolve before this can happen). The geophones that I have up and running can be viewed here.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. They help me with the daily things and the normal things that is in once life. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Posted on

Earthquake with magnitude Mw4,2 in Reykjanes volcano

Today (18-March 2020) at 10:32 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw4,2 took place in Reykjanes volcano. This earthquake started a swarm of earthquake that is ongoing at the writing of this article.


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

Earthquake activity is increasing again in this area of Reykjanes peninsula as inflation has resumed but at lower rate then before. That might change as the time goes on. I was unable to record this earthquakes because I am having a major problems with my earthquake computers and Microsoft has disabled activation of Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems so I can’t use them. I am working on a solution but it going to take a little time to implement properly.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. At the writing of this article I am completely broke and there are still few days left in March until April starts. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Posted on

Earthquake with magnitude Mw5,2 in Þorbjörn mountain (Fagradalsfjall mountain)

Today (12. March 2020) at 10:25 an earthquake with the magnitude of Mw5,2 took place in Fagradallsfjall mountain east of Grindavík town (Reykjanes volcano). This earthquake was felt over a wide area. This earthquake appears to be directly connected to the inflation that has been taking place in this area.


The Mw5,2 earthquake in Fagradallsfjalli mountain. This image is free to use if sourced is mentioned.


All the directions of the Mw5,2 earthquake in Fagradallsfjall mountain. This image is free to use if sourced is mentioned.


The earthquake swarm following the Mw5,2 earthquake in Fagradalsfjall mountain. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


The earthquake swarm following the Mw5,2 earthquake in Fagradalsfjall mountain. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There is a risk of strong earthquakes in this area and it is going to be a while until it starts to quiet down again. There is at the writing of this article no signs of magma moving towards the crust. It is unclear if that is going to change but no such signs have been detected at the writing of this article.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. They help me to work on this and just doing what people do in a daily life. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Posted on

Earthquake in Grímsfjall volcano yesterday (06. March 2020)

Yesterday (06. March 2020) an earthquake with the magnitude of Mw3,1 took place in Grímsfjöll volcano. No other earthquakes followed this earthquake and no change in harmonic tremor was detected.


Green star shows the earthquake in Grímsvötn volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

After the large eruption in Grímsfjall volcano in May 2011 there are going to be few more years until next eruption in Grímsfjall volcano. When that happens is impossible to know.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. I am getting broke this month and its just start of March. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Posted on

Ongoing earthquake activity in Reykjanes volcano (west of Grindavík town)

I am sorry for lack of updates in recent days. I have been moving and taking up from boxes and that stuff takes time and energy. I have now temporarily fixed the geophone in Hvammstangi, Iceland and that is now updating again. The geophone website can be found here.

Overview of the Reykjanes volcano activity in recent days

In general there has not been a lot of change in activity in Reykjanes volcano. Earthquake activity has most stopped north-east of Gridavík town when the inflation in that area mostly stopped and a little time of deflation started and stopped at 55mm based on recent GPS measurements. Earthquake activity is ongoing. There seems to be a pattern of larger earthquakes happening in the western part of the activity in similar pattern as was the case in the eastern part of the active area (Grindavík town). Largest earthquakes on Wednesday had a magnitude of Mw3,4. There is a risk of stronger earthquakes in this area.


The earthquake activity on Reykjanes volcano as of the writing of this article. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This information might go outdated quickly if something happens in this area. Earthquake activity might be increasing again with Grindavík town but that is unclear at the writing of this article.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. This is a lot of work behind each article even if that work is mostly invisible to the reader. Thanks for the support. 🙂