Category: Volcano

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Minor earthquake swarms in Öræfajökull volcano

An earthquake swarm started in Öræfajökull volcano yesterday (26-September-2018). Largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of 1,2. Other earthquakes had a magnitude of 0,0 and up to 0,5.


Earthquake activity in Öræfajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity is because of magma is moving inside Öræfajökull volcano. This movement is mostly slow and often stops at times. This is going to continue for a long while longer in current phase. There is no risk of eruption in Öræfajökull volcano at the moment.

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Magnitude 3,0 earthquake in Öræfajökull volcano

This evening (21-September-2018) at 21:15 UTC a magnitude 3,0 earthquake happened in Öræfajökull volcano. This was followed by a swarm of earthquakes and largest earthquake after the magnitude 3,0 earthquake had a magnitude of 1,4 so far.


Earthquake activity in Öræfajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

I expect the largest earthquake to have been felt in nearby farms that are close to Öræfajökull volcano (some are in it roots). In recent weeks the magnitude of earthquakes in Öræfajökull volcano has slowly been moving upwards. This change is not by much at the moment.

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Magnitude 4,2 earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano

Today (14-September-2018) at 10:40 UTC an magnitude 4,2 earthquake took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. Second largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of 2,9. Other earthquakes that happened were smaller in magnitude.


Green star is the magnitude 4,2 earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity is normal for Bárðarbunga volcano as it continues to inflate after the eruption 2014 – 2015. At the moment the rate of this magnitude earthquake seems to be around 1 earthquake each month. It seems that rate of earthquakes is continuing to drop and soon it is going to be one to two earthquakes a year like this in Bárðarbunga volcano.

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Katla volcano releases massive amount of CO2 daily

According to new study into CO2 release of Katla volcano the amount released by the volcano is massive. According to the news on Rúv the daily amount released of CO2 is 20 kiloton (1 kiloton = 1000 tons). What is not known today is if this high release of CO2 is constant or if it fluctuates during the year. More reaches is needed into that possible.

I don’t know how much magma is needed for this amount of CO2 release from Katla volcano. What I do know is that it is not little amount of magma inside Katla volcano. Largest documented eruption in Katla volcano had a VEI size of 5. The Eldgjá eruption in 934 was more lava than volcano ash and that was the largest eruption in Katla volcano for a long time. It is not possible to predict an eruption in Katla volcano or any other volcano with good precision.

This makes Katla volcano the 3rd largest CO2 releasing volcano in the world.

Rúv News in Icelandic

Kvikusöfnun í Kötlu (Rúv.is, Icelandic)


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Fresh minor earthquake swarm in Öræfajökull volcano

Yesterday (23-August-2018) an fresh earthquake swarm started in Öræfajökull volcano. This earthquake swarm seems to be progressing in the same way as earlier earthquake swarms. Earthquake activity in Öræfajökull volcano only happens when magma is on the move inside the volcano.


Earthquake activity in Öræfajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of 2,2 and the second largest earthquake had a magnitude of 1,9. Other earthquake activity has been as before and is mostly made of earthquake with magnitude 0,0 and up to magnitude 1,0. The magma in Öræfajökull volcano is slow moving and that is reflected in current earthquake activity.

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Earthquake swarm in Torfajökull volcano

Today (16-August-2018) at 15:53 UTC an earthquake swarm started in Torfajökull volcano. Largest earthquakes in this earthquake swarm had an magnitude of 3,8 and 3,3 at the moment other earthquakes that have happened are smaller in magnitude.


Earthquake activity in Torfajökull volcano. Largest earthquakes are marked by green stars. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake swarm seems to be ongoing at the moment. It is possible that more earthquakes that might be felt are going to happen. The largest earthquakes in this swarm were felt in nearby tourist areas.

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Earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano

Today (16-August-2018) a magnitude 3,5 earthquake took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. At the moment this is just a single earthquake with no aftershocks.


Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga (green star). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is possible that this is all the earthquake activity that is going to happen in Bárðarbunga volcano for the next few hours to days.

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Öræfajökull volcano eruptions in 1362 and 1727 possibly larger than previously thought

According to a news report an early result from a field study into Öræfajökull volcano eruptions in 1362 and 1727 suggest that those eruptions where possibly larger then previously thought.

According to the research so far the following has been discovered.

  • Volcano ash layers from the eruption 1362 are 3 meters thick. They where thought be around 0,5 meters thick. This suggests that the eruption in 1362 was larger than previously thought.
  • The craters from the eruption 1727 have been found. That eruption was close to the Fimmvörðuháls eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano in 2010 (not under glacier eruption).
  • Pictures of the magma that has been found suggest that both eruptions where highly felsic (rhyolitic) type and high in gas content. There are also high in crystals (known as crystallization of magma). What type of crystals is not known at the moment (not mentioned in the news).

That fact does explain the current process of earthquakes in Öræfajökull volcano and why earthquake activity drops down to almost nothing every few weeks in Öræfajökull volcano. The magma in Öræfajökull volcano is slow moving and there is a lot of it. Current volume is around the same that started the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano in 2010 (there are massive differences between the two, so comparing the volcanoes is subject to limitations).

Icelandic News from Vísir.is

Fyrri eldgos í Öræfajökli mun öflugri en áður var talið (Vísir.is, Video, images, Icelandic only)

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Earthquake swarm in south part of Katla volcano caldera

Today (9-August-2018) an earthquake activity increased in south part of Katla volcano caldera. It doesn’t appear that any earthquake in this swarm reached magnitude 2,0.


Earthquake activity in south part (towards the coastline) of the caldera of Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is unclear why this earthquake activity is happening at the moment. There isn’t anything unusual on harmonic tremor plots at the moment and nothing suggesting that an eruption is going to happen any time soon.

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More earthquake activity in Katla volcano

Today (8-August-2018) at 21:39 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of 3,1 took place in Katla volcano. Second largest earthquake in this activity so far had a magnitude of 2,4. This earthquake activity appears to be ongoing and magnitudes and number of earthquakes is going to change.


Earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Green star is the magnitude 3,1 earthquake. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There is no change in harmonic tremor at the moment and that for now rules out any movement of magma inside Katla volcano. This might be connected to glacier floods that are now coming from Mýrdalsjökull glacier.

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