Category: Volcano

Posted on

Earthquake activity in several volcanoes

Today (04-September-2013) had some minor earthquake activity in several volcanoes in Vatnajökull glacier. All of this earthquakes were small and less than magnitude 3.0 in size.

Kverkfjöll volcano

The deepest earthquake activity was in Kverkfjöll, with earthquakes at 31 km depth and 24 km depth. This deep earthquake activity is possible connected to magma movements since tectonic earthquakes are unlikely to take place this deep in the crust.

Grímsfjall volcano

One earthquake was recorded in Grímsfjall volcano, it was minor and shallow. This might even just be a glacier quake, rather than normal earthquake.

Öræfajökull volcano

Öræfajökull volcano did see two earthquake today, at the depth of 4 to 5 km. Both were small and tectonic in nature from the looks of it. Earthquakes are not common in Öræfajökull volcano so I am not sure why this increase has now taken place. It is worth noticing that sil network is now more sensitive in this area than before since new stations have been added in this area. This means that smaller earthquakes are now being detected than before.

Esjufjöll volcano

Esjufjöll volcano had two earthquake, the third earthquake might be a ice-quake. I am not sure if it was an real earthquake or not. Esjufjöll volcano normally do not have any earthquake activity, but few years ago an earthquake activity started with earthquakes that had magnitude of 2.5 to 3.0 so there is something going on in this volcano. What that might be I am not sure of yet.

130904_2225
Earthquake activity in Kverkfjöll, Öræfajökull, Esjufjöll, Grímsfjall volcanoes. All small earthquakes. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

I do not expect anything major to take place in Vatnajökull volcano. Since the current quiet period in Iceland just seems to be ongoing as is.

Posted on

Minor earthquake in Hekla volcano

Today (04-September-2013) a minor earthquake took place in Hekla volcano. The magnitude of this earthquake was just 0.4 and the depth was 0.1 km, so this earthquake was not connected to magma movements of any type.

130904_2025
The earthquake in Hekla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Based on how shallow this earthquake was, it is unlikely that it means anything in terms of possible eruption in the volcano. At the moment there are same chances for Hekla volcano eruption as any other day of the week, that has not changed at all.

Posted on

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.

130903_1955
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.

Posted on

Minor dike intrusion into Bárðarbunga – Hamarinn volcanoes

It seems that yesterday (02-September-2013) a minor dike intrusion took place in Bárðarbunga – Hamarinn volcanoes. This created an minor harmonic tremor yesterday on nearby sil stations. There were earthquakes following this events, the strongest one had the magnitude of 2.8 at the depth of 14 km. A second earthquake with the magnitude of 2.1 took place few moments later, it had the depth of 15.5 km. Only one smaller earthquake have seen taken place in this area of Bárðarbunga – Hamarinn volcanoes.

130903_1920
The earthquake activity in Báðarbunga – Hamarinn volcano area. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

It is important to notice that dike intrusions are common in this area, often happen many times a year. How many takes place can vary between years. That dike intrusion took place does not mean an eruption is going to take place. It just means that magma moved, what that means for the future is unknown at present time.

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.

Blog post updated at 21:43 UTC on 3-September-2013.

Posted on

Interesting harmonic signals appearing around Vatnajökull glacier

In the past few hours an interesting harmonic signals have been taking place on two sil stations (so far) around Vatnajökull glacier. I do not know what is creating this harmonic tremor spikes on them, it might be water on the move or starting to move from Skaftár cauldron in Vatnajökull glacier or it might be something different that I do not know about at present time. Currently the source of this harmonic tremor is unknown and it might never been known in the worst case. I do hope to figure out in next few hours what is creating this harmonic tremor spikes on this two sil stations.

skr.svd.02-September-2013.22.00.utc
The harmonic tremor signal at Skrokkalda sil station. The harmonic tremor signal can be found at the end of the tremor plot. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

jok.svd.02-September-2013.22.01.utc
The harmonic tremor signal at Jökulsel sil station. It is at the end of the tremor plot. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

As I say above, the source of this tremor signal is not known. It might be bad weather in the area, traffic (unlikely due to bad weather in this part of Iceland at the moment) or something that is not known at the moment. What I can rule out at the moment is this harmonic tremor signal does not appear to come from magma movement, the frequency of the harmonic tremor is too high for that at the moment and does not show little to no energy at 0.5 to 1 Hz band. This suggest the source is something else then magma, this however does not rule out magma. Since magma is known to due many strange things under pressure and high frequency harmonic tremors are not unknown, but they are unlikely to take place rather than being a common feature in volcano activity.

For the moment the best thing that can be done is to monitor the signal and see if there are any changes and on the nearby sil stations. For the moment I do not expect any major change in this area, risk of glacier flood is still in place for this part of Vatnajökull glacier. If this harmonic tremor signal connects to that is not known at the moment.

Posted on

Possible glacier flood from Skaftár cauldron

It is possible that glacier flood from Skaftákötlum cauldron has started some hours ago. According to Rúv, Icelandic Meteorological Office is now monitoring for signs that glacier flood has started. Changes in conductivity in glacier rives from Vatnajökull glacier (South-West) and the rivers that normally flood from Skaftárkötlum cauldron. It has not been confirmed that glacier flood has started yet.

At the moment it has not been confirmed that glacier flood has started, but it might start soon. I am going to post more information once I have them or when they are published.

Icelandic News about this

Fylgjast náið með Skaftárhlaupi (Rúv.is)

Posted on

Glacier flood from Hofsjökull volcano continues

Yesterday (21-August-2013) saw the start of small glacier flood from Hofsjökull volcano, this glacier flood has continued today and west Jökulsá in Skagarfirði continues to smell of sulfur and is dark color. Conductivity remains high in the glacier river following this glacier flood. It is not known currently for sure what areas of Hofsjökull volcano this comes from or what cauldrons are emptying of hydrothermal water build up.

Announcement (seen on Facebook) from Almannavarnir (Iceland Civil Protection) and Icelandic Meteorological Office on the strength of sulfur following this glacier flood is so high that it is dangerous to be close the source of the glacier flood (closest to Hofsjökull volcano). Strength of sulfur in the area is high enough to damage people lungs, travellers in the area advised to stay away from the source of the glacier river Jökulsá until this glacier flood is over, that might take few days at most. No earthquake activity has been observed in Hofsjökull volcano following this glacier flood. The volcano has been completely quiet during this glacier flood and at current time do not expect it to show any activity. Currently there is little known about Hofsjökull volcano and the activity in it, since it has never erupted during modern era (past 12.000 years).

Icelandic news about this glacier flood

Kanna hvað er á seyði í Vestari Jökulsá (Rúv.is, Icelandic)
Lítið jökulhlaup í Hofsjökli (Rúv.is)
Hlaup í Vestari Jökulsá (mbl.is, pictures)

Blog post updated at 16:56 UTC on 22-August-2013.

Posted on

Possible glacier flood from Hofsjökull volcano

It has been reported today that possible glacier flood has taken place in Hofsjökull volcano. Reports did come to Icelandic Meteorological Office that a glacier river named Jökulsá Vestri in Skagarfirði (Wikipedia). It is not known what is causing this change in the glacier river, it might be anything from a mud slide to change in the glacier itself. Amount of water in the glacier river has not changed according to IMO monitoring of the river.

Smell of sulfur has been reported with this change in the glacier river. That means the water has been in contact with hydrothermal areas that are under Hofsjökull glacier (volcano). No earthquake activity or change of any type has taken place following this change in Jökulsá Vestri in Skagarfirði.

If anything more happens. I am going to update this blog post or post an new one if I need to.

Icelandic News on this event

Jökulsá Vestari óvenjuleg á litin (Rúv.is)
Brennisteinslykt við Goðdali (mbl.is)

Posted on

Steam explosion in Kverkfjöll volcano on 16-August-2013

During the night of 16-August-2013 several steam explosions took place in Kverkfjöll volcano. This steam explosions were a result of glacier flood that took place few hours earlier, since under the glacier lake in question are hydrothermal areas (hot spring). This hot springs are so hot they do not emit hot water, they emit steam and that means they are warmer than 150 Centigrade. When under pressure this water has higher boiling point. When a glacier flood happens there is a change in pressure, the boiling point of the hot water moves down, this super heats the water and a pressure explosion takes place.

gufusprening.kverkfjoll.15-august-2013
Effects of steam explosion in Kverkfjöll volcano on 16-August-2013. Copyright of this image belongs to Almannavarnir (Civil protection in Iceland). Picture is from Facebook.

I do not know if there has been any change in hydrothermal activity in Kverkfjöll volcano over the past few years. This volcano is remote and it is not easy to go there, even during the summer time. It has been advised for tourist to be careful around Kverkfjöll volcano due to this changes that are taking place there now. Hot springs and other hydrothermal features are always dangerous to get close to.

More information on Hydrothermal explosions and superheated water

Hydrothermal explosion (Wikipedia)
Superheating (Wikipedia)

Blog post updated at 15:04 UTC on 17-August-2013.
Blog post updated at 15:08 UTC on 17-August-2013.

Posted on

Minor glacier flood from Kverkfjöll volcano [Updated]

In a announcement from Icelandic Meteorological Office, an minor glacier flood has now taking place from Kverkfjöll volcano, it appears to have started yesterday (15-August-2013). This is one of the minor glacier lakes in Kverkfjöll volcano. This glacier flood in minor and the water levels are not expected to reach more than normal summer level in the glacier river the flood is going into. The glacier river is called Volga and is a glacier river from Kverkfjöll volcano glacier area.

Currently Icelandic Meteorological Office is taking a trip over Kverkfjöll volcano to see the local changes and what is exactly is going on. Current status of the glacier flood is not well known, but latest report suggested that some subsiding was taking place, if that is because the glacier flood is over or something else is taking place I am not sure about at present time.

Update 1: Icelandic Civil Protection has confirmed that steam explosion took place in Kverkfjöll volcano following the glacier flood (due to sudden pressure release) that took place during the night and in the morning. News about that can be found here in Icelandic.

Web cameras of Kverkfjöll volcano

It is possible to view web cameras of Kverkfjöll volcano here. Weather information can be found here.

Icelandic news about this glacier flood

Óvenjulegur vöxtur í Volgu (mbl.is)
Hægt hefur á vexti hlaupsins (mbl.is)

Blog post updated at 20:47 UTC on 16-August-2013.
Blog post updated at 21:29 UTC on 16-August-2013.