Category: Volcano

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New volcano monitoring project in Iceland

A new volcano monitoring project and a study is about to start in Iceland. This project hopes to provide real time information in volcano activity in Iceland. It has been funded by EU grand of 6 million euros. The reason for this project is the Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption, among other volcano activity in Iceland. Among this project goals is to setup coordinated European volcano monitoring system.

Freysteinn Sigmundsson geophysics is the controller of this project. Icelandic Meteorological Office and University of Iceland also take part in this project. In total, 26 partner in 9 European countries are going to take part in this project during its duration. Something about 200 scientists are going to take part in this project during its duration. It is going to be interesting to see what comes out of this project in the long run.

Update 1: I forgot the name of this project. It is called; European volcanological supersite in Iceland: a monitoring system and network for the future

Icelandic news on this

Bætt mannlíf nærri eldfjöllum (Rúv.is)
Milljarður í eldfjallaverkefni íslensks vísindamanns (Vísir.is)
Fá 950 milljónir í rannsóknarstyrk (mbl.is)

Blog post updated at 14:26 UTC.

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Earthquake swarms in Brennisteinsfjöll volcano and TFZ

Over the past few days there has been continued earthquake activity in Breinnisteinsfjöll volcano. The largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of ML2.5. It is possible that this earthquake swarms have there orgin in SISZ. Rather then Breinnisteinsfjöll volcano. But at current time is hard to be sure on this detail.


Earthquake activity in Breinnisteinsfjöll volcano during the past few days. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Tjörnes Fracture Zone

Earthquake activity has also been taking place east of Grímsey Island. This earthquake activity has mostly been small. But this are earthquake swarm did not have any earthquake that was above 3.0 in magnitude.


Earthquake swarm on TFZ. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

The largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of ML2.8. More earthquake activity should be expected in this area. As this is one of most active areas in Iceland when it comes to earthquake swarm.

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Magnitude 3.1 earthquake in Katla volcano this morning

Today at 08:26 UTC this morning a magnitude 3.1 earthquake took place in Katla volcano. There was minor pre-earthquake activity before the magnitude 3.1 earthquake took place, the depth of this earthquake was around 100 meters (0.1 km). There was also some minor aftershock activity following this earthquake. No change in harmonic tremor took place following this earthquake. So there is a good chance this was just part of normal autumn activity in Katla volcano. This earthquake activity did appear clearly on my geophone network. It can be viewed here on my geophone network web page.


The earthquake as it did appear on my geophone station in Skeiðflöt. This image is released under Creative Commons licence. See CC licence page for more details.


The earthquake as it did appear on my geophone station in Heklubyggð. This image is released under Creative Commons licence. See CC licence page for more details.


The location of the earthquake in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

More earthquakes like this should be expected in Katla volcano. But it is impossible to know if there is going to be an eruption in Katla volcano any time soon. But so far everything is quiet in Katla volcano. Besides occasional earthquake swarm that is taking place in Katla volcano.

Icelandic news about this earthquake activity

Jarðskjálfti í Kötlu – 3,2 að stærð (Rúv.is)
3,2 stiga skjálfti í Kötlu (mbl.is)
Snarpur skjálfti í Kötlu (Vísir.is)

Blog post updated at 19:34 UTC on 03.10.2012
Blog post updated at 05:45 UTC on 04.10.2012

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Katla volcano eruption in the year 1918

Last large eruption in Katla volcano was in the year 1918. Cameras where a bit hard to find during this time and it took long time to take pictures of eruptions in those days. There are few pictures that exist today of the eruption in the year 1918 and the aftermath that did follow it.

Here are the only pictures of the eruption taking place in Katla volcano during the year 1918.


The ash cloud from Katla volcano during the eruption in the year 1918.Author of this picture is unknown. Picture is assumed in public domain due to age (94 years ago). Death of author is unknown to me. Corrections welcomed.


Ice bergs from the glacier flood that did follow the eruption in Katla volcano during the year 1918. Author of this picture is unknown. Picture is assumed in public domain due to age (94 years ago). Death of author is unknown to me. Corrections welcomed.


Painting showing the ash cloud of the Katla volcano eruption in the year 1918. I sadly do not know how did paint this picture or it’s copyright status. Corrections welcomed.

Based on this pictures. This is what we should expect from Katla volcano in the next big eruption. I do not know when that might be. It might be a long wait.

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Earthquake activity east of Grímsey Island (TFZ). Possible fake earthquakes in Eyjafjallajökull volcano

At 03:03 UTC an earthquake with the early and unconfirmed magnitude of ML3.3 took place east of Grímsey Island. This earthquake did take place on TFZ. It is possible, but this earthquake might be the start of an earthquake swarm in this area. But that is not uncommon pattern for earthquakes in this area. But however it also happens that earthquakes like this one takes place. But then nothing more happens.


Earthquake activity in TFZ. The early magnitude ML3.3 earthquake is marked with a green star. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Eyjafjallajökull volcano

There has also been some earthquake activity in Eyjafjallajökull volcano during the night. This activity is possibly false due to weather or faulty SIL seismometer. The earthquake that have been detected so far have extremely low quality. But the increases the chance of them being false, rather then real events. It is not going to get known if this activity is real or not until it is reviewed by seismologist at Icelandic Meteorological Office.


The possible earthquake activity in Eyjafjallajökull volcano. This activity might be due to faulty hardware or weather, rather then real activity in Eyjafjallajökull volcano.Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Eyjafjallajökull volcano has been quiet since it’s eruption in the year 2010. I do not expect that to change any time soon. Since it seem that Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption cycle is around 150 to 500 year (theoretical maximum in my opinion). So I am not expecting anything to happen in Eyjafjallajökull volcano any time soon. If this earthquake activity is confirmed it is interesting. What might come out it is impossible to know for sure.

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Minor earthquake swarm in Katla volcano

Tonight around 22:30 UTC there was an minor earthquake swarm in Katla volcano. This earthquake swarm did last in about 20 minutes. After that the earthquake activity did drop back to normal background levels. This earthquake swarm is most likely part of normal autumn earthquake activity in Katla volcano. More earthquake swarms like this should be expected in Katla volcano during next few weeks.


Earthquake activity in Katla volcano this evening (28.09.2012). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

What happens next is impossible to know. But I am not expecting anything special to happen in Katla volcano following this earthquake swarm. This earthquake swarm did appear clearly on my geophone at Skeiðflöt and Heklubyggð. The geophones can be viewed here.

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Minor earthquake swarm in Katla volcano

Normal autumn activity appears to be starting in Katla volcano. This earthquake activity is not something to be alarmed about. But worth keeping an eye on anyway.


The earthquake activity in Katla volcano during the past 48 hour period. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

This is just normal autumn activity. As such it is not dangerous and does not mean anything. More earthquakes might happen in next few days to weeks.

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Earthquakes in Tindafjallajökull volcano

One of the most quiet volcanoes in Iceland had earthquake swarm today (17.09.2012). I am not aware of any major earthquake activity in Tindafjallajökull volcano during the past 20 years. I am not sure that if there has been any earthquake activity in Tindafjallajökull volcano during this time. One off-earthquake might have happened once in a while. As they do with every volcano in Iceland from time to time. It is unclear why this earthquake swarm took place. But this might be due to stress changes in the area. Rather then anything volcanic taking place in Tindafjallajökull volcano.


Activity in Tindafjallajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

The largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 1.1. The depth of this earthquake swarm was from 10.7 km and up to 3.1 km. This earthquake swarm appears to be over by now.

Katla volcano

The image above also shows earthquake activity in Katla volcano. This earthquake activity is well below what did happen in May to end of July this summer (2012) in Katla volcano. Currently the activity in Katla volcano is low and has been so for many weeks now. I am not expecting that change without some increase in smaller earthquakes first. For the moment, everything is quiet in Katla volcano.

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Constant earthquake activity in El Hierro voclano

On the 14. September 2012 an earthquake swarm started in El Hierro volcano, Canary Islands, Spain. The earthquake swarm is currently ongoing and there have been more then 300 earthquakes already. The earthquake activity is more or less constant at the moment. Since yesterday (16.09.2012) had around 182 earthquakes have taken place during the past 24 hour period (when this is written). The depth of this earthquakes is around 18 to 28 km. But this suggests an new magma intrusion into El Hierro volcano, or at least that magma is on the move inside El Hierro volcano from older sill inside it.


Start of the earthquake activity in El Hierro volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to IGN.


The earthquake activity on 15.09.2012. There is also an harmonic tremor pulse in this image. The first harmonic tremor pulse starts at 09:00 and lasts until 09:25 UTC. The second harmonic tremor pulse starts at 18:50 and lasts until 19:25 UTC. Copyright of this image belongs to IGN.


The earthquake activity yesterday (16.09.2012) until 21:14 UTC when this image was saved. No harmonic tremor pulses can be seen on this image. But earthquakes appear clearly on this image. Copyright of this image belongs to IGN.

This magma that is being injected into El Hierro volcano now is unlikely to erupted. But there is an pocket of magma located North of the El Hierro Island that might erupt. That magma pocket is only located about 10 km from the top of crust. In the start of the current that area was making earthquakes. But it soon did go silent. Why that I do not know.


The current area of activity in El Hierro volcano. As can be seen it is mostly located at great depth. But the pocket of magma that is located at 10 km depth north in El Hierro volcano might be reason to worry about. This image shows the activity over the past 4 days. Copyright of this image belongs to IGN.

The area that I worry about is marked by blue dots in the image above.


The current activity over the past 36 hours in El Hierro volcano. This image clearly shows where most of the activity has been taking place during this time period. Copyright of this image belongs to IGN.


Earthquake data for the past 1 year in El Hierro volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to IGN.

It is only when we get the earthquake data for past 1 year when things get really interesting. Based on this data. Magma is now already at the depth of around 10 km in El Hierro volcano. Why it has not erupted is hard to answer (the answer might come after an eruption takes place. But no sooner). There are even clues in this image that some of the magma might be as shallow as 5 km. But it is hard to see it for sure. This image also suggest that amount of magma in El Hierro volcano, in the forms of magma sill is a lot more then what did erupt last year in El Hierro volcano. The tube that is feeding this magma into El Hierro volcano appears to be located at 18.05 longitude. That tube is marked by earthquakes going down well below 28 km depth.

The current earthquake activity in El Hierro volcano is creating new magma sill inside the volcano. That is just storing magma for possible future eruptions. The activity so far has been bit stronger in terms of amount of earthquakes since last earthquake swarm in June and July 2012. But that earthquake swarm did top at around 172 earthquakes during 24 hour period. So the current earthquake swarm is larger in that regard. But so far no earthquake has been larger then magnitude 3.2. But that might change if any larger earthquake happens. As often is the case.

It is hard to say what happens next in El Hierro volcano. But I would guess that once eruption starts in El Hierro volcano it might last for months. Based on the amount of magma that seems to have build up inside the volcano during the past few months. That build-up phase however does not seems to be completed at the moment. How long it is going to last is impossible to say at current time. But this is something that is worth keeping an watch for. El Hierro volcano is going to erupt basalt if the eruption is on land. Older volcano cones are not going erupt again. At least that is my assessment of what I have seen with satellite pictures.

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Earthquake swarm on Reykjanes Ridge last night (16.09.2012)

Last night there was an earthquake swarm on Reykjanes Ridge. Possibly on one of the volcanoes that are in this area of Iceland. The earthquake swarm lasted for several hours. Strongest earthquakes in this swarm had the magnitude of 3.5. With the depth from 23 km and up to 0.3 km. Strongest earthquakes in this swarm where visible on my geophone network.


The earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes Ridge. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Last earthquake swarm in this area was on 8. February 2012. There was also earthquake activity deep on the Reykjanes Ridge. With two earthquakes that did get the magnitude 4.4 (EMSC) at 12:51 UTC. The second earthquake took place at 14:30 UTC and had the magnitude of 4.4 (EMSC). This earthquake activity is far enough from land that only the largest earthquakes are detected.

But there seems to be a lot of earthquake activity both south and north of Iceland (Jan Mayen earthquake activity). But this not connected activity as such. But it is known that activity on Reykjanes Ridge happens in jumps. It is an question if such time has come that an new activity episode is about to start on the Reykjanes Ridge. But last major episode in activity on the Reykjanes Ridge ended about 671 years ago. But there is one eruption documented off the coast in the year 1926 according to Global Volcanism Program. That activity did last for 4 days or so.

I am not sure what is going to happen next on the Reykjanes Ridge. But I am going to report it best to my ability. With the best information that I can get when the time comes.

Icelandic news about this earthquake activity

34 skjálftar frá miðnætti (mbl.is, Icelandic)

Blog post updated at 02:47 UTC on 17.09.2012