Category: Torfajökull

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Earthquake swarm in Torfajökull volcano

Today (27-January-2019) at 10:01 UTC an earthquake swarm started in Torfajökull volcano, western part of the caldera. Largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of 3,7 and was felt on nearby farms. There are no tourists in this area of Iceland this time of the year (generally).


Earthquake swarm in Torfajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Largest earthquake in last few hours had a magnitude of 2,3. Other earthquakes have been smaller in magnitude. This earthquake swarm is currently ongoing and information might change without warning.

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Earthquake swarm in Torfajökull volcano

Today (16-August-2018) at 15:53 UTC an earthquake swarm started in Torfajökull volcano. Largest earthquakes in this earthquake swarm had an magnitude of 3,8 and 3,3 at the moment other earthquakes that have happened are smaller in magnitude.


Earthquake activity in Torfajökull volcano. Largest earthquakes are marked by green stars. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake swarm seems to be ongoing at the moment. It is possible that more earthquakes that might be felt are going to happen. The largest earthquakes in this swarm were felt in nearby tourist areas.

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Magnitude 3,2 earthquake in Torfajökull volcano

Today (23-June-2016) at 20:36 UTC an magnitude 3,2 earthquake (current data, might change) took place in Torfajökull volcano. The depth was 2,1 km.

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Green star in Torfajökull volcano shows the location of the earthquake. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

If anyone was close to this earthquake, it would have been felt. No other earthquake have so far followed this earthquake, that might change in few hours. It does happen once in a while that just one magnitude 3,0 earthquake happens and nothing more. I don’t know if there is any hydrothermal activity in the location where this earthquake took place.

Update at 22:24 UTC

According to an announcement from Iceland Met Office. This earthquake was felt in a nearby camping area.

Article updated at 22:24 UTC.

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Short overview of earthquake activity in Iceland

This is a short update of earthquake activity in Iceland on 28-February-2016.

Bárðarbunga volcano

Over the past 48 hours there has been earthquake activity and dyke activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Some of this earthquake activity has been on around 15km depth. Suggesting magma movements within Bárðarbunga volcano system. Earthquake activity always seems to increase few hours to days after a swarm of deep earthquakes appear in Bárðarbunga volcano.

A dyke activity has appeared on the edge of Bárðarbunga volcano, it is located south-east in the volcano. In a area that has seen this type of dyke activity before. It is interesting that this activity seems to persist at this location.

Tungnafellsjökull volcano

Over the past few days few earthquakes have appeared in Tungnafellsjökull volcano. Some of those earthquakes have had the depth around 15 km. This suggest some type of magma movements inside the volcano, but nothing that suggests that its going to reach the surface any time soon.

Askja volcano

Earlier this week (Week 08) an deep earthquake swarm took place in Askja volcano. With earthquakes having the depth down to around 22 km. Suggesting that magma is flowing into Askja volcano magma chamber at depth. This has been happening at regular basis since 2010. At the moment there is nothing suggesting that eruption is going to happen any time soon in Askja volcano.

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Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga, Tungnafellsjökull and Askja volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

Katla volcano

There was some minor earthquake activity in Goðabunga in Katla volcano. This appears to be normal activity for this region of Katla volcano. No other interesting activity took place this week (Week 08) in Katla volcano.

Hekla volcano

Two earthquake where detected in Hekla volcano. Nothing else happened following this earthquake activity. Why this earthquake activity happens remains unclear.

Torfajökull volcano

A minor earthquake activity took place in Torfajökull volcano during the weekend. This activity is possibly due to changes in hyrdrothermal areas in Torfajökull volcano.

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Earthquake activity in Katla, Torfajökull and Hekla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

Other than this activity things remain quiet in Iceland. There are few minor earthquake swarms on Reykjanes peninsula and Tjörnes Fracture Zone. But they are too small at the moment to write about.

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Please remember to support me with donations. The new computer left a big hole in my budget and any support in order to cover it are welcomed. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Move to Denmark

It is now official. I’m moving back to Denmark on 14. April, with just few minor details left to work out (getting a loan for the apartment insurance and few other things). I’ll move into my new apartment on the 15th April. More details later next weeks when I know about the apartment loan.

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Earthquake swarm in Torfajökull volcano

Today (03-December-2015) a small earthquake swarm took place in Torfajökull volcano. This was a small earthquake swarm and none of the earthquakes did go above magnitude 2,0. Depth suggests that origins of this earthquake swarm can be traced to hydrothermal changes taking place in the volcano.

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The earthquake activity in Torfajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

This type of earthquake activity happens in Torfajökull volcano since magma is at shallow depth in a wide area inside the caldera. Nothing else is expected to happen.

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Minor earthquake swarm in Torfajökull volcano

Since last weekend there has been a minor earthquake swarm taking place in Torfajökull volcano. This appears to be normal earthquake activity for this volcano, it often has this type of swarm activity, mostly due to changes in hot springs and hydrothermal activity in the volcano.

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Torfajökull volcano is located north of Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

This is normal earthquake activity in Torfajökull volcano as it looks at the moment. Since this has happened before, this earthquake swarm might last for few more days to weeks. It is difficult to know for sure. New hot springs might open up and old one close while this is taking place, so people who are travelling in this area need to be aware of that risk.

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Minor earthquake swarm in Torfajökull volcano

Today (31-July-2014) a minor earthquake swarm took place in Torfajökull volcano. This was a minor earthquake swarm and no earthquake did go above magnitude 3,0. Strongest magnitude of this earthquake swarm had the magnitude of 2,3. Depth of this earthquake swarm was from 15,1 km to around 1,0 km.

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The earthquake swarm in Torfajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

This earthquake swarm appears to be over, at least at the moment. It might start again at later time. Earthquake activity is common in Torfajökull volcano and there are no signs of any other activity from Torfajökull volcano at the moment.

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Earthquake swarm in Torfajökull volcano

Today (10-October-2013) there was an minor earthquake swarm in Torfajökull volcano. The largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude 2,2 and the depth of 0,4 km. Earthquakes like this are common on Torfajökull volcano and have so far not been connected with any other activity.

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Earthquake swarm in Torfajökull volcano (to the north of Mýrdalsjökull glacier). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

It is possible that more activity is going to take place in this area in the next few days to weeks. It’s unlikely that it is going to be larger than what took place today.

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Minor earthquake swarm in Torfajökull volcano

Today (03-September-2013) a minor earthquake swarm took place in Torfajökull volcano. The largest earthquake had the magnitude of 1.1, no other larger earthquakes took place in Torfajökull volcano.

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Earthquakes in Torfajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Smaller earthquake swarms are common in Torfajökull volcano. They do not mean that eruption is about to take place, however magma is shallow in Torfajökull volcano and it has not erupted since 15th century at least (I think, there is no use in GVP website at the moment).

Donations: It would be nice if people donated so that I can buy food this month. In other case I am going to have to eat really little this month and I am not happy about such things taking place.

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Earthquake swarm in Torfajökull volcano

Today (16.02.2013) at 15:11 UTC an earthquake swarm started in Torfajökull volcano. This is so far small earthquake swarm. With largest earthquake only having magnitude 2.6 (automatic result). Depth of this earthquake swarm is around 2 to 4 km. This earthquake swarm is taking place inside the volcano. So they might be magma related. But it is hard to know that for sure at the moment. This might just be normal tectonic earthquakes in this area. Earthquakes are common in this volcano. But major swarm activity does not seem to be for some reason.

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Earthquake activity in Torfajökull volcano. The earthquakes are the red dots on this image. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

It is hard to know exactly what happens next. But most often the earthquake activity in Torfajökull volcano stops after few hours. Last documented eruption in Torfajökull volcano took place in the year 1477 according to Global volcanism program (GVP). This earthquake activity appears clearly on my Heklubyggð geophone and Skeiðflöt geophone. The web site for my webicorders can be found here.