Category: Dyke intrusions

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Update on Katla volcano activity

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.

Green stars and yellow dots in Katla volcano caldera on the Icelandic Met Office map. Time on map is 30. June, 23, time is 11:15 Icelandic Time.
Earthquake swarm activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

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)

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Strong earthquake swarm in Katla volcano

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.

Green star and red dots in Katla volcano caldera.
Ongoing earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

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.

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Magma detected deep under Reykjanes peninsula

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

Jarðskjálftavirkni aukist síðustu daga og vikur (Rúv.is)

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Earthquake swarm in Reykjanes volcano

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.

Earthquake swarm out in the ocean close to Reykjanestá in the Reykjanes volcano. A lot of red dots piled on top of each other. Blue to orange dots located elsewhere on the Reykjanes peninsula. Time on map 26. June. 23. 16:05 (Icelandic Time).
Earthquake swarm in Reykjanes volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

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.

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New hot springs detected at Road 1 in Hveradalabrekka in Hengill volcano

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.

The main road one as it is south of Reykjafell mountain in Hengill volcano. Also on this map is Þrenslahnjúkur and Hveradalir are marked in on the map.
The main road 1 on Hengill volcano. Close to the area that is now warming up. Screenshot of map from ja.is.

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)

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Earthquake swarm in Þórðarhyrna volcano

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.

Earthquake swarm in south-west part of Þórðarhyrna volcano. This volcano is located in Vatnajökull glacier, just few km south of Grímsfjall volcano, is part of the Grímsfjall volcano fissure swarm. Time on image 11. May. 23 13:10.
Earthquake activity in Þórðarhyrna volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

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.

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Earthquake swarm in Reykjanes volcano (out in the ocean)

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.

Green star and a cluster of earthquakes on down and west part of this image. Showing the Reykjanes peninsula. Few other earthquakes are dotted on the map in other volcanoes on the Reykjanes peninsula.
Earthquake swarm in Reykjanes volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

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.

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Earthquake swarm north of Grindavík town, next to Blue Lagoon

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.

Red dots north of Grindavík town and next to the Blue lagoon on the map (the lagoon doesn't appear on the map). Time on map 25. Apr. 14:00.
Earthquake activity north of Grindavík town. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

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.

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Earthquake swarm in Grímsfjall volcano

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.

Green star and red dots under it in Grímsfjall volcano. Also in this image is the earlier earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano, shown with a green star.
Earthquake activity in Grímsfjall volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

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.

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Small earthquake swarm in south part of Brennisteinsfjöll volcano

Today (13. April 2023) there has been a small earthquake swarm in south part of Brennisteinfjöll volcano. This location had an earthquake swarm few weeks ago at this same location. It also was small in magnitude. Depth of this earthquake swarm has now decreased from 7 km to around 3 km. At least that is what it seems, based on the current earthquake data.

Red dots in south of Brennisteinsfjöll volcano showing the minor earthquake activity now taking place in this volcano. Nearby volcano also have minor earthquake activity, shown in orange to red dots.
Earthquake activity in Brennisteinsfjöll volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity shows a sign of magma movement. It is my opinion that the magma is now pushing it self trough the crust at this location. That can take a while, up to several weeks before an eruption starts. I did see something similar happen before the Bárðarbunga volcano eruption in 2014. That process took good three months before the eruption and was marked by small earthquake swarm like this one. How long this is going to take is impossible to know, because what type of crust is at this location is not well understood (outside of types of rock it is made out of at the first top layers). This is in my view an earthquake activity that needs to be monitored, because of possible eruption risk at this location. This is directly north of a small lake south of the earthquake swarm. If an eruption happens and the lava flows into the lake, that might create a lot of problems.

This earthquake swarm can be viewed here in more details. The website is Skjálfta-Lísa and is only in Icelandic.