Category: Volcano

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Earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík volcano Saturday 12th September 2020

On Saturday 12th September 2020 an earthquake swarm started in Krýsuvík volcano. This earthquake swarm did only go on for few hours before it stopped for now.


Earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano. Image used with permission and copyright of image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Largest earthquake in this swarm had magnitude Mw3,0 and all other earthquakes where smaller. The magnitude Mw3,0 earthquake was felt in Reykjavík.

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Earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík volcano

Yesterday (7-September-2020) an earthquake swarm took place in Krýsuvík volcano early morning. The largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw3,3 and the second largest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw2,8. Other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude.


The earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík volcano. Image used with permission and copyright belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity is part of the inflation in volcanoes in the volcanoes in this area because of influx of magma at 3 km to 8 km depth. While no eruption has not yet happened that is the most likely outcome of all of this activity. When this enters the eruption phase is something that cannot be predicted.

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Minor earthquake swarm in Katla volcano

Today (3-September-2020) at 12:39 UTC and earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,1 took place in Katla volcano. Few smaller earthquakes took place in this same location. No change in harmonic tremor was detected during this earthquake activity.


The earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Image used with permission and copyright belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Katla volcano has been quiet during the summer of 2020 and it doesn’t seems like that anything more is about to happen following this earthquake activity. Since 15:53 UTC everything has been quiet in Katla volcano. This earthquake activity appears to have stopped.

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Magnitude Mw3,4 earthquake in Reykjanes volcano

Today (3-September-2020) at 10:57 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,4 took place in Reykjanes volcano. This earthquake is part of the ongoing earthquake activity that started in this area in January 2020 and has been going on since then. This earthquake activity happens in waves and there are quiet period between high activity.


Earthquake activity in Reykjanes volcano. Image used with permission and copyright belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There continues to be high risk for stronger earthquake activity in this area because of magma injections into the crust at 3 to 8 km depth in this area. Earthquake activity is ongoing in Reykjanes volcano.

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Earthquake swarm around 42 km north of Kolbeinsey island

During the night of 3-September-2020 an earthquake swarm took place around 42 km to 50 km north of Kolbeinsey island. Because of distance from the SIL network the earthquakes that where detected do not have accurate location or magnitude.


Earthquake activity north of Kolbeinsey Island (green stars). Image used with permission and copyright belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This might just be regular earthquake activity that happens on the Kolbeinsey ridge or in Kolbeinsey island. This area is all under a deep ocean and that makes it impossible to know for sure what is going on at this location.

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Ongoing earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík and Reykjanes volcanoes boundaries

Yesterday (29-August-2020) an ongoing earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík volcano or in the Reykjanes volcano increased. I am unclear what volcano system is responsible for this earthquake activity. It might be both volcanoes and if that is case it complicates matter.


The earthquake activity yesterday close to Krýsuvík or in Krýsuvík volcano. Used with permission and copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw3,6 at 19:06 UTC and the second largest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw3,4 at 16:23 UTC. Two earthquakes with magnitude MW3,0 also took place. The strongest earthquakes where felt in Reykjavík and other nearby towns. This earthquake activity is part of the activity that started in January in Reykjanes volcano and has been ongoing since then. Its has moved a little east in recent months and I am unclear on why that is exactly. There are no clear signs that magma is moving at the writing of this article to the surface.

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Strong earthquake swarm east of Fagradalsfjall mountain

Today (26-August-2020) a strong earthquake swarm took place east of Fagradalsfjall mountain. Strongest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw4,2 and second strongest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw3,7. Three other earthquakes with magnitude above Mw3,0 took place in this earthquake swarm. At the writing of this article total of 350 earthquakes have taken place.


The earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes peninsula in Reykjanes volcano. Image used with permission and copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake swam seems to be at the most eastern end of a volcano called Reykjanes. This activity happens in swarms and at the writing of this article a new activity has started. It is not possible to know how long this activity is going to last. At the writing of this article there are no signs that magma has started to find a path to the surface and current data suggest this earthquake activity only to be tectonic earthquake currently. GPS data continues to suggest injection of magma into the crust at 8 km to 3 km depth in Reykjanes volcano. This injection of magma has been going on since January-2020.

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New earthquake swarm in Tjörnes Fracture Zone (volcano)

Today (21-August-2020) an earthquake swarm started in Tjörnes Fracture Zone volcano. It is unclear if this earthquake activity is because of tectonic activity. Largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw3,2 at the writing of this article. Other earthquakes in this swarm had smaller in magnitude.


The earthquake swarm (green star) in Tjörnes Fracture Zone. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This is a new earthquake swarm and is not connected to the earthquake swarm in the western part of Tjörnes Fracture Zone. This are two separate earthquake swarms now happening. This earthquake activity is ongoing at the writing of this article in both earthquake swarms.

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Unexpected glacier flood from south Langjökull glacier

On Monday 17-August-2020 a glacier flood took place from south Langjökull glacier. This glacier flood seems to have been unexpected and was it seems rather large. It killed fish in the rivers it flooded. This might be connected to a volcano called Presthnjúkar but that remains unclear at the writing of this article. There has been no earthquake or other activity in this area in recent days above background level.

Update 1

This glacier flood took part in the western south part of Langjökull glacier. It is not known the origin of this glacier flood due to cloud cover of the glacier yesterday (19-August-2020).

Update 2

Rúv News published an news today (20-August-2020) with videos of the area where the flood did come from. This was a glacier lake that emptied it self by breaking trough the end of Langjökull glacier resulting in this glacier flood.

News in Icelandic with a video

„Það hefur enginn séð neitt í líkingu við þetta“ (Rúv.is)

Article in Icelandic with pictures

Stór spýja hljóp fram Hvítá og rennsli árinnar nær þrefaldaðist (skessuhorn.is)

Update at 02:50 UTC on 20-August-2020.
Updated at 20:57 UTC on 20-August-2020

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Two strong earthquakes in Reykjanes volcano

Yesterday (31-July-2020) two earthquakes with magnitude Mw3,4 and Mw3,0 took place in Reykjanes volcano. This earthquake activity is part of the inflation that is happening north of Grindavík town in the Reykjanes volcano.


Earthquake activity close to Fagradallsfjall mountain. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met office.

Earthquake activity in Reykjanes volcano is now mostly continues but it peaks with earthquake activity swarm like this one every few days to weeks. How much earthquake activity depends on how magma inflow is taking place at 3 to 10 km depth. It seems that flow rate is different between hours to days. Since the earthquake activity is continuous in Reykjanes volcano there is a permanent risk of magnitude Mw5,0 to Mw6,0 earthquake in this area.