Category: Monitoring

Posted on

Three earthquakes in Hekla volcano. Earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano

For the past 24 hours tree earthquakes so far have been recorded in Hekla volcano. There is no sign of eruption or anything other than earthquakes taking place at present time.

140324_1120
The earthquake activity in Hekla volcano (top left). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

It is possible to monitor Hekla volcano here for earthquakes (almost real-time data).
Here is an list of web cameras that point to Hekla volcano.
Míla web camera of Hekla volcano can be viewed here.
IMO earthquake web page can be viewed here.

Currently there is bad weather in south Iceland that makes observation and monitoring of Hekla volcano difficult.

Earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano

Yesterday (23-March-2014) and Today (24-March-2014) an earthquake swarm took place in Hengill volcano. This earthquake swarm has its source in water being pumped down into the ground from Orkuveita Reykjavíkur (geothermal plant in this area).

140324_1120
The earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

This are not volcano related. This happens when cold water (polluted) is being pumped back into the ground. That makes earthquake swarms like this one common.

Posted on

Deep earthquake in Hamarinn volcano

Yesterday (21-March-2014) an extremly deep earthquake took place in Hamarinn volcano (part of Bárðarbunga volcano often called Loki-Fögrufjöll). The magnitude of this earthquake was just 1,4 but its depth was around 29,7 km. The location of this earthquake was just 10,4 km North-East of Hamarinn volcano (main). So it possibly was inside Hamarinn main volcano system, but I am not sure on that detail.

140322_1915
The earthquake activity in Hamarinn volcano and Öræfajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Earthquakes that take place this depth happen due to magma movement or small dike intrusion at depth. I don’t know what is the actual case here, this might just be an earthquake at depth. The crust has the depth of 40 km at this location (study on this can be found here) due to hotspot [second link here] activity that has increased the thickness of the crust. Last eruption in Hamarinn volcano was in July 2011, it was an minor eruption that took place and lasted just for few hours and did not breach the glacier.

Post updated at 21:02 UTC.

Posted on

Two earthquakes in Hekla volcano. Deep earthquake in Katla volcano

Yesterday (20-March-2014) and today (21-March-2014) there were earthquakes in Hekla volcano. The earthquake yesterday had the magnitude of 1,2 and depth of 9,1 km. The earthquake today had the magnitude of 1,2 and the depth of 7,1 km.

140321_1505
The two earthquakes in Hekla volcano and the deep earthquake in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

This earthquake activity does not mean Hekla volcano is about to erupt. What this means is unclear at present time.

Katla volcano

Today there was also an deep earthquake in Katla volcano. This earthquake had the magnitude of 1,4 and the depth of 21,8 km. Earthquakes at this depth are due to some change in the magma at depth. This however does not mean Katla volcano is about to erupt. Far from it. Earthquake activity in Katla volcano is normal and possibly below normal activity, it is at least certainly not above winter earthquake activity at present time.

Monitoring

It is possible to monitor Hekla and Katla volcanoes here on IMO website.
I have my webicorder website here.
I have list of online web cameras here.
Live from Iceland web camera can be found here.

Icelandic news about this

Tveir jarðskjálftar við Heklu (mbl.is)

Posted on

No imminent eruption in Hekla volcano

There have been rumours that Hekla volcano is about to erupt. This is according to Rúv News, Icelandic Meteorological Office and Icelandic Civil Protection authorities. Currently there are no signs of imminent eruption in Hekla volcano, it’s as quiet as it has been for the past 14 years. That is going to change one day, but at the moment everything is quiet. What is being done now is that Icelandic Authorities are setting up warning signs (new ones) to warn people and provide guidance in advance in the case an eruption starts. Since eruption can and has started with a short notice in Hekla volcano in the past and short notice eruption is going to take place in the future. When that might be is not something that can be predicted at current time.

Geological scientists are also installing more gas monitoring hardware up close to Hekla volcano. They hope to spot changes in gas release some time before an eruption takes place. It is untested if this is going to work. Doing this also has some issues, since weather and wind can make it difficult to detected the gas that comes out from the ground. Along with other issues that I don’t know the details of.

If people want to monitor Hekla volcano them self. They can do so on-line at following internet websites.

Webicorders (The station named Hekla, earthquakes, harmonic tremor appear here)
Web camera Hekla (Heklubyggð, same location as my geophone)
Míla Hekla webcamera (live stream)
Rúv Hekla webcamera (currently not working)
Icelandic Meteorological Office Hekla web-page (Icelandic)
IMO Mýrdalsjökull earthquake map also has Hekla volcano on it (top left). It’s updated every 5. min, and anything that happens in Hekla volcano is going to appear on this page.

If anything happens in Hekla volcano it is going to appear clearly on the above links.

Icelandic Civil Authorities warning sign about what to do if there is an eruption in Hekla volcano. Orignal pdf file can be found here.

hekluplakat_
Click on the image for full size. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Civil Authorities (Almannavarnir).

Icelandic and English news of Hekla volcano

Hekla Volcano Eruption Hazard Signs Put Up (Iceland Review)

Engin merki um að Hekla sé að bæra á sér (Rúv.is, Icelandic)
Gasmælingar aukast við Heklu (Visir.is, picture of a gas monitoring station, Icleandic)

Posted on

More magma in Hekla magma chamber then before 2000 eruption

According to news today on mbl.is there is now more magma in Hekla volcano then before the 2000 eruption. The news says that since the year 2006 there has been more magma in Hekla magma chamber then before the last eruption in the year 2000. This has not meant an eruption so far. Hekla volcano magma chamber have the depth of around 10 to 20 km. This means this inflation that is now taking place does not appear clearly on the surface, but changes are being measured by GPS system that Icelandic Meteorological Office has. This is also appearing on GPS instruments that geological department University of Iceland has. Even if inflation is now more in Hekla volcano then during the eruptions in the year 1991 and 2000 it does not mean that next eruption is going to be bigger. Since the size of the eruption depends on how much of the magma is mobile in the magma chamber. That amount remains unknown until eruption takes place and even then not all of the mobile magma might erupt.

It is also pointed out in the news that it is risky to go on top of Hekla volcano as is. At least while no eruption has taken place currently. Since the risk of eruption is in place and the time from magma starts to move and until eruption takes place is short. Often less then 1 hour. It is advised in this news that people should not go on top of Hekla volcano. The risk is that eruption starts and trap people on top of the volcano, with deadly consequences.

It is possible to read the Icelandic news here. Please use Google Translate with care. It’s not always correct.

Kvikusöfnun meiri í Heklu en árið 2000 (mbl.is)

Donation notice: Please remember to donate and support my work (I am having one of the bad and awful months now). Thanks!

Posted on

Increasing conductivity in Skeiðará glacier river (Grímsfjall volcano)

Since 20-January-2014 there has been increase in conductivity in Skeiðará glacier river that comes from Vatnajökull glacier. The reason for this change is that water is leaking from Grímsfjall volcano. Water levels have also been increasing and dropping during this time since this started.

gigjukvisl.svd.14.03.2014.vedur.is
The conductivity in Skeiðará glacier river from 20-January-2014. Picture from Icelandic Meteorological Office Facebook page. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Conductivity is now measured at 416 µS/cm and according to Icelandic Meteorological Office that is an high value coming from Grímsfjall volcano. This water also goes trough several lakes and before it reaches the sensor at Gígjukvísl bride. So at the source of Skeiðará glacier river this value is probably even higher. No major earthquake activity and no harmonic tremor activity has taken place following this water leak from Grímsvötnum glacier lakes. But it appears that some glacier quakes might be taking place at the moment. Such activity can be seen here on IMO website. Currently the volume of water in Grímsvötn glacier lakes is small since the eruption that took place in Grímsfjall volcano in the year 2011. Coverage of that eruption can be found here. At current time nothing more is expected to happen.

Donation notice: Please remember to support my work with donation. Otherwise I am going to have really bad month of March-2014 food wise. Thanks for the support.

Posted on

Three earthquakes in Hekla volcano system

Today (03-Mars-2014) three earthquakes where detected in Hekla volcano system. All three earthquakes where small with none having magnitude above 1,0.

140303_1620
The earthquakes in Hekla volcano system. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

No other change has been detected in Hekla volcano at this time. Earthquake activity has been taking place in Hekla volcano in the past. It is not clear what is the source or why this earthquake activity is taking place. It is possible to watch Hekla volcano here on my webicorders and live images can be found here. If something happens, but I think it is unlikely to do so at present time.

Donation notice: Please remember to support my work. Otherwise I am looking at really broke month of Mars-2014. It is also possible to buy my first e-book short story here. Thanks for the support.

Posted on

Two magnitude 3,4 earthquakes in TFZ

Today (26-February-2014) at 08:06 and 08:12 UTC two earthquakes with the magnitude of 3,4 took place in TFZ. This earthquakes where felt in Ólafsfirði. This earthquake activity started on Monday and is continuing.

140226_1505
The two 3,4 magnitude earthquakes on TFZ. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

mynnieyjafj2014
Historical and newest earthquake activity in this area of TFZ.Image is from here (Icelandic). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

The earthquake activity in TFZ is ongoing. I am expecting more earthquakes in this area as is. When they might take place is impossible to know as of now. It is possible to monitor for earthquake activity in TFZ here (and here, Icelandic Meteorologist Office website). Any earthquake larger then magnitude 2,0 is going to appear on here. The larger the earthquake, more clearly it is going to appear on my webicorders.

Posted on

Deep earthquake in Hamarinn volcano

Today (25-February-2014) at 09:49 UTC an deep earthquake took place in Hamarinn volcano (is under Bárðarbunga volcano at GVP database as Loki-Fögrufjöll). This earthquake had the depth of 29,6 km and magnitude of 1,8. This means it was created by magma movement rather then tectonic forces.

140225_2030
The earthquake that had the depth of 29,6 km is located 12,5 km south of Hamarinn (64,417 -17,605). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Hamarinn volcano last erupted in July 2011 [coverage of that can be found here] in an minor eruption that lasted for few hours but resulted in glacier flood in the area. Since then activity has dropped, but over the recent months it has been picking up again slowly. So far it is just earthquakes at depth. Harminn volcano is highly active volcano, even if it is not constantly erupting at the moment. The reason is that it is almost centre above the hot spot fuels the eruption activity in this area.

Blog post updated at 21:28 UTC.

Posted on

Earthquake swarm on TFZ

Today (24-February-2014) at 06:49 UTC an earthquake swarm started on TFZ. Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 3,0. No other earthquake has so far been larger.

140224_1720
The earthquake swarm in TFZ. It is aligned in north-south direction. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

It is possible to monitor for earthquakes here with 5 minute delay. The activity appears most clearly on Böðvarshólar and Bjarghús geophone stations. This appears to be an continued activity from the earthquake swarm that started back in October 2012. I am expecting more earthquakes in the area since I don’t expect this activity to be over yet. Quiet times between earthquake activity should be expected. For some unknown reason that is how this area behaves and it is not known why that is.