Category: Volcano

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New earthquake swarm in Katla volcano

This morning at 07:03 UTC on 21. August 2012 an earthquake swarm started in Katla volcano. This earthquake swarm lasted for few minutes with the last earthquake taking place at 07:50 UTC. No harmonic tremor was detected following this earthquake swarm in Katla volcano. Update 1: The largest earthquake in this earthquake swarm had the magnitude of 2.6 at the depth of 0.1 km.


Earthquake activity in Katla volcano this morning. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

It is impossible to know for sure what this activity means. But this might just be normal autumn activity in Katla volcano. I am expecting more earthquake activity in Katla volcano in next few days to weeks.

Icelandic news about this earthquake activity

Skjálfti í Mýrdalsjökli (Rúv.is, Icelandic)
Jarðskjálfti upp á 3,1 stig í Mýrdalsjökli (Vísir.is, Icelandic)
3,1 stigs skjálfti í Mýrdalsjökli (mbl.is, Icelandic)

Blog post updated at 15:18 UTC on 21.08.2012. I have not yet fully recovered from the heat wave. I forgot the important information about this swarm. They have now been added.

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Earthquake swarm in progress in Krýsuvík volcano

Today (18.08.2012) at 15:52 UTC an earthquake swarm did start in Krýsuvík volcano. So far this swarm is not big. With the largest earthquake having magnitude 1.8 according to automatic size. It is impossible to know at this point if this earthquake swarm is going to be strong, or has just ended. So far earthquake activity continues with minor earthquakes.


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

If the earthquake activity picks up. I am going to do my best to update this blog. But I am on limited 3G internet connection. So it might be a while until update takes place.

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Earthquake in Katla volcano today (17.08.2012)

Today at 15:48 UTC there was an magnitude 3.8, at the depth of 0.1 km in Katla volcano. This earthquake took place on the caldera rim in Katla volcano. No major harmonic tremor was detected following this earthquake. However some harmonic tremor was detected. But it was minor. This might have been hydro-thermal-activity or magma on the move. It is impossible to know for sure what is the case now. This earthquake did appear clearly on my geophone network. Mostly on the geophone station at Skeiðflöt and Heklubyggð.


The location of the earthquake in Katla volcano. It was located on the edge of Katla volcano caldera. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.


Influence map of todays ML3.8 earthquake. This suggests that it was not felt in nearby populated areas. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.


Tremor plot that clearly shows the earthquake of today. The spikes are the earthquakes that have been taking place in Katla volcano or close by areas. This is Alftagrof SIL station. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.


This tremor plot shows some minor harmonic tremor following the earthquake in Katla volcano. The spikes show the earthquake from Katla volcano and areas close by. This is Austmannsbunga SIL station. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

It is impossible to know what this means exactly. But Katla volcano has been quiet since around middle of July. It remains to be seen if earthquake activity is picking up again or if this was just an single event.

Icelandic news about this earthquake

Jarðskjálfti í Mýrdalsjökli (Rúv.is, Icelandic)
Jarðskjálfti í Mýrdalsjökli (Vísir.is, Icelandic)
Jörð skalf við Austmannsbungu (mbl.is, Icelandic)

Blog post updated at 18.08.2012 at 11:51 UTC. Blog post title fixed for the future.

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Use of radar to monitor start of a volcano eruption under an glacier

During the start of the volcano eruption of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in the year 2010. Use of radar images during the start of the eruption from it’s top crater provided valuable information on what was going on in the volcano. But due to weather it was close to impossible to monitor the start of eruption when it started in it’s top crater on 14. April 2010. The radar did allow sciencetist to monitor the formations of the ice cauldrons in the glacier and see how they did empty of glacier flood water in the start of the eruption. This allowed warnings to be issued in time for the population living close to Eyjafjallajökull volcano.

Icelandic news about this

Radarmyndir notaðar á einstakan hátt (Rúv.is)

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Minor earthquake swarm in Brennisteinsfjöll volcano system

When I was moving there was an small earthquake in Brennisteinsfjöll volcano. Because I was moving I was unable to track this earthquake swarm properly. But the largest earthquake was around ML1.5 from what I can remember. The earthquakes had the depth of at least 2 km. But I am not sure what the exact depth is. But I have not yet looked at the reviewed data on this earthquake swarm.


The earthquake swarm in south-west part of Brennisteinsfjöll volcano. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

There has not been a lot of activity in Iceland during all summer. So I have not had lot to write about. But that might change without any warning. As is common in Iceland.

I did also move on 7th of August to a new town in Denmark. That means I am out of ADSL connection until 24th of August. So this blog is going to suffer from lack of updates until I am properly connected to the internet.

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New mountain found deep west of coast of Iceland

Marine Research Institute (of Iceland) has found new mountain off the coast of Iceland. The mountain is in a plateau in the same area. But it rises up from the ocean floor about 450 meters. The area that was mapped had the size of 300 square kilometer. Depth of the ocean at this location is around 1400 meters. This mountain is possibly an old tuff mountain (volcano). But that is not confirmed. According the news, this mountain has youthful look to it and around three craters where spotted on it. The age in this area is around 20 million years. So this might be a extinct volcano from the time period when volcano activity was ongoing in this area. But it most likely has never been above the coast line.


The unnamed mountain on the ocean floor off the west coast of Iceland. Copyright of this image belongs to Marine Research Institute.

They found more then just this mountain in this survey. They also found more mud volcanoes off the coast of Iceland. Some of them are reaching 350 meters off the ocean floor.


Mud volcanoes appears as spikes in this image. This image has has things four times larger then they actually are. Copyright of this image belongs to Marine Research Institute.

There are many more unknowns off the coast of Iceland. As the ocean floor is largely unexplored today. As are many other parts of the ocean floor around the world.

Icelandic news about this

Stórt og mikið neðansjávarfjall birtist með fjölgeislamælingum djúpt vestur af Íslandi. (hafro.is, Icelandic, pictures)
Hafró: Fundu 450 m hátt neðansjávarfjall vestur af Snæfellsnesi – tífalt stærra en Ingólfsfjall (Pressan.is, Icelandic)

Blog post updated at 06:25 UTC on 02.08.2012. Correct English name for Hafrannsóknarstofnun added.

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Fish dying in Kleifarvatn lake due to increasing toxic and hydro-thermal activity

According to Icelandic news today. Fish has been dying in Kleifarvatn lake. But Kleifarvatn lake is inside Krísuvík volcano system. The exact reason why the fish is dying is not known at this point. But report suggests that large amount of fish has been seen dead already. I do not know how much fish there is in Kleifarvatn lake.

This suggests that hydro-thermal and hot spring activity in increasing in the lake. This also suggest that increased toxic levels (for the fish) are now changing in the lake. What toxins are at work here I do not know. But it can be assumed that it is what comes with magma.

For the past three to four years. Krísuvík volcano has been inflating and deflating at regular time intervals. What this means in unclear at present time. But this is signs of increased activity in the volcano anyway. Hydro-thermal and hot spring activity has also been increasing during this period. This has also been followed by increased earthquake activity in Krísuvík volcano when inflation takes place. What happens next is impossible to know for sure. But it is clear that Krísuvík volcano is still far away from erupting any time soon.

Icelandic news about this

Fiskar í Kleifarvatni sagðir í andarslitrum (Vísir.is)
Fiskar i Kleifarvatni sagðir drepast í stórum stíl (Vísir.is)

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Earthquake swarm on TFZ and in Þeistareykir volcano

This is going to be short blog post.

Earthquake east of Grímsey Island

Earthquake with the magnitude of ML3.5 (estimate) did take place at 19:48 UTC. This is normal tectonic activity for this area. But this area of Iceland has the most earthquake activity most of the year.


Earthquake activity in TFZ. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

Þeistareykjabunga volcano

It was noticed by a reader of this blog that Þeistareykjabunga volcano was having few earthquakes. Þeistareykjabunga volcano last erupted in the year 900 BC (+- 100 years). This earthquake swarm was small. Mostly earthquakes with the magnitude of ML0.5 to ML1.0. The focal depth of this earthquake swarm was around 5 km. So this in all, is most likely an tectonic earthquake swarm. Rather then volcanic. Þeistareykjabunga volcano is an active volcano. But at current time I do not think anything has changed in that volcano at present time.


Þeistareykjabunga volcano is located north of Krafla volcano. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

I do not expect anything more to happen in Þeistareykjarbunga volcano. But if there are changes, they won’t go unnoticed.

Thanks to Mafl for the tip on Þeistareykjabunga volcano.

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Quiet in Iceland earthquake wise

Currently it remains quiet in Iceland in terms of earthquakes and other geological activity. I am using that chance to have a bit of summer break. I am also going to move in August, so there is that. I am not moving back to Iceland. I am just moving inside Denmark. From Åbenrå to a small town named Padborg. But I think smaller towns work better for me then larger towns.

Because I am moving. I have to pay double rent in August. I hope that I do not have to pay double rent in September and October (that means more and new overdraft for me. Something I do think is an bad thing for me). This is going to leave me bit out of pocket. So all support is welcomed.

I am going to be on part-break until after I move to Padborg. But if anything major happens. I am going to write about it soon as possible.

Katla volcano

Katla volcano continues to have small earthquake swarm. What that means is still unclear. Largest earthquake in few days was earlier this week. That earthquake had the magnitude of 2.6 and had the depth of 0.3 km. Several smaller earthquakes did take place following this earthquake swarm. Since then Katla volcano has remained quiet. Small glacier floods are still a high risk from Mýrdalsjökull glacier.

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Small glacier flood from Mýrdalsjökull glacier (Katla volcano)

According to Rúv News this evening. A small glacier flood started flowing from Mýrdalsjökull glacier (Katla volcano) few days ago. According to local farmer in the area. Glacier floods like this are common and several have taken place during this summer, none of them have created damage. The current glacier flood is from a glacier river called Leirá river. This glacier flood is from an cauldron somewhere close to middle of Mýrdalsjökull glacier. There is small risk of damage to local roads and fiber optics cable in the area. Some glacier breakage has been reported in the glacier where the floods comes from.

I am going to update this blog post if anything major happens with this glacier flood.

Update 1: It now appears that this glacier flood is now appearing on Rjúpnafell SIL station. So far just on this only SIL station. But that might change at any time if this glacier flood grows in size.


The tremor from the glacier flood can be see at the end of this harmonic trace. The spike is an earthquake in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

Icelandic news about this.

Lítið hlaup í Leirá (Rúv.is, Icelandic)

Blog post updated at 00:07 UTC on 14.07.2012.