Volcano and earthquake activity in Iceland
Today (4. July 2023) there has been a earthquake swarm in Fagradalsfjall mountain. Largest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw1,6 and at the writing of this article there have not been any earthquakes with magnitude above Mw2,0. This might change without warning.
Smaller earthquakes swarms sometimes seems to happen before an eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain. The current earthquake swarm has all signs of dyke intrusion. If that is going to result in eruption now is impossible to know.
This is an update on Katla volcano activity. The largest earthquakes in the earthquake swarm during the night had a magnitude of Mw4,4. There where total of eight earthquake with magnitude above Mw3,0 in this earthquake swarm and in total of 58 earthquakes in total according to Icelandic Met Office website. This earthquake activity is ongoing even if currently there are no earthquakes taking place (at the writing of this article).
This earthquake activity was clearly felt in Þórsmörk area and was resulting in people loosing sleep.
According to news reports on mbl.is there has now been increase in conductivity in Múlakvísl glacier river. This seems to be directly connected to the earthquake swarm activity that took place during the night. There is also more water in the Múlakvísl glacier river, if that is connected is unclear, because of rain in Iceland in recent days, there is general more water in rivers. Harmonic tremor has not started to change. That can happen without warning at any time.
Icelandic News
Rafleiðni fer stígandi í Múlakvísl eftir skjálfta (mbl.is)
Önnur skjálftahrina í Mýrdalsjökli (ruv.is)
During the night of 30. June 2023 an earthquake swarm started in Katla volcano. At the writing of this article the largest verified earthquake had a magnitude of Mw3,3.
This earthquake swarm is ongoing at the writing of this article. Currently an eruption has not started, if that is going to change is something that just has to show it self in next few hours if this earthquake activity continues to increase. All that can be done for now is to monitor this situation.
According to a news on Rúv News there has been detection of magma at considerable depth on Reykjanes peninsula. This magma is actively trying to reach the surface, but has not been successful for now. This has resulted in a lot of dyke intrusions on the Reykjanes peninsula in recent months. Earthquake activity seems to follow each inflation period on the Reykjanes peninsula according to the news.
The magma in the deep crust and in the mantle is going to increase in volume until it can break up the surface. How long that is going to take is something I don’t know. Next eruption cycle is going to start with a large earthquake, just like the last one. Based on all current data that I have.
Rúv news in Icelandic
Today (26. June 2023) an earthquake swarm took place in Reykjanes volcano. This earthquake swarm is in a location in Reykjanes volcano that has been having repeated earthquake activity over the last few months. This strongly suggest that at this location there’s an active dyke that might erupt in the future.
Largest earthquake in this swarm at the writing of this article had a magnitude of Mw3,0. Other earthquakes have been smaller in magnitude. I am unclear on how many earthquakes have happened in Reykjanes volcano at the writing of this article. This earthquake swarm is ongoing at the writing of this article.
The Icelandic Road administration did send out this news report today that new hot springs have been detected at Hveradalabrekka on Road 1 in Hengill volcano. This is an area that sees some heavy traffic. I can’t post pictures here because of copyright, but they can viewed in the news article below.
According to the Icelandic Road administration it seems that the area in question has been getting warmer for some time. According to them the current temperature around 86 degrees celsius. This is the area on a map from ja.is website.
Next is to check why this is happening and if there is any risk the Road 1 in this area and if anything can be done if that’s the case. I am unclear on what is going on, since this area (I don’t think this one, but nearby) is known for hot spring activity. There has been some earthquake activity at this location in recent months and that is possibly connected to this new hot spring activity. On 9th of May this area had a Mw1,1 earthquake at the depth of 4 km. Over a time period of 130 days, the number of earthquakes in this area is not unusual for Hengill volcano or Reykjanes peninsula in general. This area of Road 1 might continue to get warmer over the next few months.
Vegagerðin news in Icelandic
Jarðhitavirkni undir Hringvegi (vegagerdin.is) – has pictures of the area.
Update
Rúv has published a news about this and has a video of the area where this new hot spring activity is happening. This is new because vegetation is in this area and is now dying off.
Allt að 100 gráðu hiti mælist við veginn (Rúv.is, Icelandic)
Update 2
Icelandic Road Administration web camera shows the new hot spring area. The web camera can be viewed here.
Article updated 12. May 2023 at 20:41 – Reykjavík time (+0 GMT)
Article updated 14. May 2023 at 13:01 – Reykjavík time (+0 GMT)
Today (11. May 2023) there was a earthquake swarm in Þórðarhyrna volcano. This are small earthquakes, but their location and depth suggest that this is a dyke intrusion taking place at this location.
Þórðarhyrna volcano is part of Grímsfjall volcano fissure swarm, that connects to Laki eruption fissures. Last eruption in Þórðarhyrna volcano was in the year 1902 to 1904 and had the VEI=4 according to Global Volcanism Program report that can be read here.
During the night of 4. May 2023 an earthquake swarm took place in the Reykjanes volcano out in the ocean. This was not a large earthquake swarm. Largest earthquake recorded had a magnitude of Mw3,4. Other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude.
This earthquake activity suggests an dyke intrusion in this area. This is part of Reykjanes volcano, but that volcano is in part out in the ocean. The Reykjanes volcano has been having regular dyke intrusion in recent years without it resulting in an eruption. That is most likely what is going to happen now.
This morning (25. April 2023) an earthquake swarm started north of Grindavík town, next to the Blue Lagoon. This earthquake swarm is ongoing at the writing of this article. If this is going to result in a eruption is impossible to know. The magma has reached the depth of 2 km and that is not good news if this continues to intensify. Large earthquakes do not need to happen before an eruption starts under the correct conditions in the curst and there has been a lot of dyke activity in Reykjanes volcano in last 3 years. Without that activity resulting in a eruption.
Eruption at this location would be bad, because of the tourist infrastructure next to this location that is the Blue Lagoon. Only thing that can be done now is to monitor the situation and see if it changes from what is currently happening.
It is possible to view the earthquake swarm in high resolution on Skjálfta-Lísa and other private websites that have similar maps.
Today (23. April 2023) at 15:!5 UTC an earthquake swarm took place in Grímsfjall volcano. Largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw3,3. Few other smaller earthquakes also took place.
There are no signs that Grímsfjall volcano is about erupt following this earthquake swarm. That might change without warning, but seems unlikely to happen at the moment. More earthquakes might happen in next few hours.