Category: Volcano

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Update on the eruption in Meradalir valley/Fagradalsfjall mountain

This is a short update on Meradalir valley/Fagradalsfjall mountain eruption at 21:25 UTC on 3-August-2022.

Most of the fissure that started erupting at 13:16 UTC in Meradalir valley, just north of the old crater in Geldingadalir in Fagradalsfjalli mountain (Icelandic location names are long) is active after few hours of activity. Earthquake activity is now slowing or stopping almost completely as is the same thing that happened in 2021 after the Fagradalsfjall mountain / Geldingadalir valley eruption started.

The most northern part of the eruption fissure already seems to be shutting down. How fast that happens I don’t know, but there seems to be a crater started to form at the south end of the eruption fissure. At least for now. The news report at Rúv today noted that people where walking over a patch of land that was releasing gas and thermal camera showed the ground to be warmer than normally. This strongly suggests that an eruption might start at those location without warning. I don’t know exactly where those locations are, but they must be in the walking path, placing them south of the 2021 eruption crater.

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Eruption has started in Fagradalsfjall mountain

Today (03-August-2022) at around 13:30 UTC an eruption started in Fagradalsfjall mountain, just north of the eruption site that took place in March to September 2021. The fissure that is now erupting is growing both to south and north. That suggest that the power of the eruption is currently growing.

This is all the information I have at the moment. This eruption is clearly visible on the web cameras that mbl.is has on YouTube, along with web camera from Rúv.

I’ll post new information when I get them. I don’t know when that is going to be.

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Update 1

Based on this image from Morgunblaðið web camera. The eruption started at 13:16 UTC.

Image of an fresh lava field and a small cloud in the left corner coming from the ground were the eruption is starting. Clock on the image is 13:16 UTC
Image from Morgunblaðið web camera when the magma breaks the crust and starts the eruption. Copyright of this image belongs to Morgunblaðið/YouTube screenshot. – This image might be removed if requested.
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Magnitude Mw3,7 earthquake in Grímsfjall volcano

Today (2-August-2022) at 14:24 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,7 took place in Grímsfjall volcano. At the writing of this article there doesn’t seem to be any indicator that an eruption is about to start, but that might change without warning.

Green star in Grímsfjall volcano in Vatnajökull glacier in east Iceland. The volcano is located in about middle of the glacier
Earthquake activity in Grímsfjall volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There were few other smaller earthquakes following and before the largest earthquake. This earthquake activity is slightly unusual since normally Grímsfjall volcano doesn’t have any earthquake activity unless an eruption is about to start. If this earthquake activity continues is impossible to know.

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Update on earthquake activity in Fagradalsfjall mountain area on 2-August-2022

This is a short article because the situation changes constantly.

This was not a night where many people in Reykjavík got a good night sleep. A magnitude Mw5,0 earthquake took place at 02:27 UTC and was felt in Reykjavík, few seconds earlier a magnitude Mw4,7 earthquake took place. Earlier three earthquakes with magnitudes of Mw4,3 to Mw4,5 had taken place, this was just around midnight and was also felt in Reykjavík. Over 10 000 earthquakes have been recorded since Saturday when this all started. The earthquake activity during the night was at the western end of Kleifarvatn lake and was for that reason felt clearly in Reykjavík. Minor damage was reported with the earthquake around midnight. Other reports of damage have not been reported so far.

Heavy green stars on Reykjanes peninsula, all over and closest to Reykjavík at Kleifarvatn lake
Heavy earthquake activity on Reykjanes peninsula. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

The strong earthquakes during the night where fault earthquakes, that happen because of the inflation that is now taking place north of Fagradalsfjall mountain. GPS data has also been showing a interesting patter. There is now a deflation taking place in Gónhóll and the crater, while that area also seems to be on the move north (?). The 24 GPS data can be viewed here and 8 hours GPS data can be viewed here.

This earthquake activity is going to continue until an eruption starts. When that happens is impossible to know. More stronger earthquakes can be expected in next few hours and days on Reykjanes peninsula.

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Update on 1-August-2022 on the earthquake swarm in Fagradalsfjall mountain

This is a short update on the earthquake swarm in Fagradalsfjall mountain and nearby area. This is written on 1-August-2022 at 13:47 UTC.

The situation on Reykjanes peninsula is always updating so information in this article can be in part or in whole get obsolete quickly. Largest earthquake during the night had a magnitude of Mw4,7. This might not be the largest earthquake today, since larger earthquakes are always a possibility.

A lot of green stars on Reykjanes peninsula along with red dots that show the heavy earthquake activity that is now happening there
Strong earthquake activity on Reykjanes peninsula. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
Time trace of the strong earthquake activity in the last 48 hours. Dark blue dots, blue dots, yellow dots with a magnitude 5,4 earthquake line in it, orange dots and red dots show all the earthquakes. This earthquake activity is really dense
Time trace of the earthquake activity in the last 48 hours. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

GPS data have started to show a large displacement over the last 48 hours. The 24 hour GPS displacement can be found here and 8 hour GPS displacement data can be found here (find Reykjanes peninsula). This shows that magma is pushing its way though the crust at fast speed, but has not yet broken up trough the crust. When that happens is impossible to know, but this might not be a long wait based on the speed the magma is going. Current depth of the magma is around 2 to 4 km.

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Magnitude Mw5,4 earthquake 3,2 km east of Grindavík town

Today (31-July-2022) at 17:48 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw5,4 took place 3,2 km east of Grindavík town. This earthquake was felt over a wide area of Iceland and all the way to Westfjörd in few towns that are there. Damage has been reported in Grindavík town, with cold water main breaking and damage to house items, damages to houses is unclear at the writing of this article. New news reports show that items in grocery stores have been thrown out of their shelf.

The red dots continue to grow on the Icelandic Met Office earthquake map. Green stars are also many on this same map of Reykjanes peninsula
The earthquake activity on Reykjanes peninsula and close to Grindavík town. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake is a fault earthquake and as such not directly connected to a magma movement in Fagradalsfjall mountain, however, the magma movement in Fagradalsfjall mountain is the engine that makes this earthquake possible in this location. There is a chance that two magnitude Mw5,4 earthquakes took place at the same time east of Grindavík town. This was mentioned in Rúv news about the earthquake, such earthquakes are a lot more complicated and harder to get correct magnitude for. More earthquakes like this can be expected in this area or closer to Reykjavík city at any time without warning.

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Update on the earthquake swarm in Fagradalsfjall mountain (Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano)

This is going to be a short update because the situation is constantly changing. This update is written at 12:07 UTC on 31-July-2022.

At the writing of this article at 11:32 UTC no eruption has started in Fagradalsfjall mountain or nearby area. Over 3000 earthquakes have been recorded in the last 24 hours in and around Fagradalsfjall mountain since the earthquake activity started yesterday (30-July-2022). There have not been any major changes in the crater in Fagradalsfjall mountain, it does seem to release more gas than normal. That is at least how it appears, if that is real or not I don’t know.

A lot of red dots on Reykjanes peninusla as the heavy earthquake swarm continues. A lot of green stars in a line close to Fagradalsfjall mountain, showing the location of the strongest earthqaukes
Heavy earthquake activity on Reykjanes peninsula. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
The time index of the earthquake activity for the last 48 hours. Since 12 yesterday, there have been a continuos earthquake activity. Now the dots are yellow, orange and red after the age of the earthquakes
The earthquake activity in the last 48 hours. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

I think this might be a stronger activity than last year, but if that is correct estimate is a wait and see. There has not been any major change in GPS location and that suggest that the area is as inflated as it possibly can be. It is impossible to know when the magma breaks up in the crust, but earthquake activity suggests that it has reached the depth of 2 km, meaning the magma has moved up a lot in the last 24 hours, since this earthquake activity started on the depth of 8 km yesterday.

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Massive earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano

I was busy today so I only just got home and this article is going to be a short one.

Today around (09:00 UTC) a small earthquake swarm took place in Fagradalsfjall mountain. At around 12:00 UTC an stronger and more massive earthquake swarm started in Fagradalsfjall mountain. At the writing of this article more than 700 earthquakes have been recorded and that is possibly an underestimate. At the writing of this article, largest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw4,4 and more than eighteen earthquakes with magnitude above Mw3,0 had taken place. Many of them were felt in Reykjavík and other nearby towns.

Dense earthquake swarm on Reykjanes pensinsula in Fagradalsfjalli mountain. Many green stars in a row in a swarm of red dots
A lot of earthquake activity in Reykjanes peninsula in Fagradalsfjall mountain. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
Horizontal gram of the earthquake mangitudes of the earthquake swarm in Fagradalsfjall mountain. Most earthquakes from 06:00 and then a sudden jump in activity at 12:00. Several earthquakes reach magnitude 4 line and a lot the magnitude 3 line.
The time overview of the earthquake activity in Reykjanes peninsula and Fagradalsfjalli mountain. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is difficult to know when a eruption is going to start. I find that the most likely outcome of this earthquake swarm. The magnitude of the harmonic tremor suggests that an eruption would be larger than last eruption in Fagradalsfjalli mountain. It is impossible to know if that is going to happen until an eruption starts. Currently the harmonic tremor was or is dropping. I do think it is going to increase again since that seems to be a pattern in this cases of magma intrusion until an eruption starts.

I’ll post more updates as this continues. Rúv and mbl.is have turned on their web cameras. They can be found on YouTube.

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Magnitude Mw4,2 earthquake in Katla volcano

At 22:57 UTC on 29-July-2022 an earthquake with magnitude of Mw4,2 took place in Katla volcano. Few smaller earthquakes have happened following this earthquake. Magnitude of this earthquake might still change, since earthquakes in Katla volcano are the type of earthquake it takes time to get correct magnitude.

Green star in Mýrdalsjökull glacier in Katla volcano. Red dots inside the caldera shows smaller earthquakes.
Earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

I don’t know what is going on. This might just be normal summer earthquake activity and Katla volcano sometimes has this stronger earthquakes without an eruption happening. This is going to be a little wait and see on what happens next in Katla volcano.

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Magnitude Mw4,9 earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano

Today (24-July-2022) at 13:45 UTC and earthquake with magnitude of Mw4,9 took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. Before this earthquake happened, an slightly smaller earthquake took place with magnitude of Mw4,4.

Two green stars on top of each other in Bárðarbunga volcano, that is in Vatnajökull glacier.
Green stars in Bárðarbunga volcano, that is in Vatnajökull glacier. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

According to news reports, last earthquake of this magnitude took place in January 2020. This earthquake activity is because of inflow of magma and inflation of Bárðarbunga volcano. This is not going to result in a eruption, this however shows that Bárðarbunga volcano is preparing for an eruption in next few decades or sooner.

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