Monitoring – Page 118 – Iceland geology

February 22, 2014February 22, 2014

Two minor earthquakes detected with my geophone network

It does not happen often. But I do detect earthquakes sometimes that Icelandic Meteorological Office does not detect on it’s network. The reason for that is simple. This earthquakes are too small to be detected by the SIL stations far away. My geophone network is able to detect earthquakes down to ML-2,0 when weather is good and if they are close enough. It doesn’t happen often, but it does happen. The earthquakes that I recorded on 20-February-2014 had the magnitude above ML0,0. What the magnitude is exactly I do not know. Since the software that I use does not allow for exact magnitude calculations (far as I know). The first earthquake took place at 12:36 UTC.

The earlier earthquake that I detected at Bjarghús geophone station. This earthquake had the magnitude of 0,1 to 0,5. This image is released under Creative Commons Licence. See CC Licence page for more details.

The earlier earthquakes at Böðvarshólar geophone station. This earthquake had the magnitude of 0,1 to 0,5. This image is released under Creative Commons Licence. See CC Licence page for more details.

A second earthquake took place at 18:41 UTC. It was slightly larger than the first earthquake.

The second earthquake at Bjarghús geophone station. This earthquake had the magnitude of 0,8 to 1,2 and distance of around 14 km. This image is released under Creative Commons Licence. See CC Licence page for more details.

The earthquake at Böðvarshólar geophone station. This earthquake had the magnitude of 0,8 to 1,2 and an distance around 17 km.This image is released under Creative Commons Licence. See CC Licence page for more details.

All three channels of the second earthquake. This is Bjarghús geophone station. This image is released under Creative Commons Licence. See CC Licence page for more details.

All three channels of the second earthquake. This is Böðvarshólar geophone station. This image is released under Creative Commons Licence. See CC Licence page for more details.

I have not recorded any more earthquakes since this activity. Last earthquake before that took place in the year 2006 best to my knowledge. That was just one earthquake and Icelandic Meteorological Office was unable to locate that earthquake too due to lack of SIL stations in the area of my geophone. Back in 2006 I had one geophone and it was located in the village of Hvammstangi where I used to live. I don’t know if any more earthquakes are going to take place. It is difficult to know if any more earthquakes are going to take place. If they do they are going to appear on my geophones (Böðvarshólar and Bjarghús) in Húnaþing Vestra.

February 17, 2014

Minor earthquake swarm in Katla volcano

Over the past two days minor earthquakes have been taking place in Katla volcano. This is just minor earthquake activity. None of the earthquakes so far have reached the magnitude 1,0 that I know of.

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

What is interesting about this earthquake activity is that it is taking place inside the caldera of Katla volcano and it is taking place in high winter. When earthquake activity is normally low. What this means is unknown as is and I do not think an eruption is imminent in Katla volcano. This activity is however something to keep an eye on. Since Katla volcano is known to have erupted as early in May. Last such eruption took place in the year 1721 and lasted until October that same year (+-45 days). It is not known if eruptions can take place earlier, I am not going to rule it out even if it is not documented in historical documents about past eruptions in Katla volcano.

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February 17, 2014

Minor earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano

Yesterday (16-February-2014) an minor earthquake swarm took place in Hengill volcano. This earthquake swarm took place because Orkuveit Reykjavíkur (OR) was pumping down water from hydrothermal processing in this part of Hengill volcano.

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

This type of earthquakes happen regularly when Orkuveita Reykjavíkur pumps water down into the ground at this location. At the moment this is just making minor earthquakes. This type of earthquake swarm only last during the period when water is being pumped down into the ground. Once that process is stopped the earthquake activity stops almost immediately.

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February 13, 2014

Around 1100 earthquakes recorded in Iceland during the month of January-2014

During the month of January-2014 around 1100 earthquakes where recorded according to Icelandic Meteorological Office. The largest earthquake during the month had the magnitude of 3,5 and took place on the Reykjanes peninsula. Earthquake swarm took place in Hveravellir geothermal area east of north Langjökull glacier.

The total earthquake activity in Iceland during the month of January-2014. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Most of this earthquakes are small. Since no major earthquake activity took place in January-2014. There was however more activity in January-2014 then in December-2013 when only 800 earthquakes where detected by Icelandic Meteorological Office. More details about the earthquake activity in Iceland during the month of January-2014 can be found here, it is in Icelandic so Google Translate or such service is needed (quality of the translation is not guaranteed).

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February 12, 2014

Quiet period in Iceland continues

The quiet period in Iceland continues as it has been doing for the past five months (according to my best knowledge). There is always some minor earthquake activity taking place, that is normal and should be expected. It is highly unusual if no earthquake activity was taking place for a long period of time.

All quiet in Iceland. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

This has been a unusual period of quiet in Iceland best to my knowledge. At least in terms of earthquake swarms and such activity. Volcano eruptions in Iceland only happen on average every 4 to 5 years. Last eruptions (two minor ones) took place in the year 2011. When Grímsfjall volcano erupted. Same year there was also minor eruption in Katla volcano, a week later an minor eruption took place in Hamarinn volcano. since this activity took place it has remained quiet in Iceland volcano wise. There have been earthquake swarms in this period, several strong ones. AT the moment however there is not a lot of activity taking place. That might change at any time. But watching for activity takes a lot of patents since often nothing happens for a long time.

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February 6, 2014February 6, 2014

Minor earthquake swarm in Geysir volcano and Presthjúkar volcano

Yesterday (05-February-2014) an minor earthquake swarm took place in Geysir volcano (no GVP information) and in Presthnjúkar volcano. None of the earthquakes where above the magnitude of 2,6. The largest earthquakes did appear on my geophone network and were (are for the next few hours when this is written) visible on my webicorders website.

Earthquake activity in Presthnjúkar volcano and Geysir volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Other than this minor earthquake swarm it remains quiet in Iceland. I am not sure why that is at current time. This is the longest quiet period that I remember for the past 5 years at least.

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January 21, 2014

Waiting for the eastern Skaftá glacier cauldron

The glacier flood in Skaftá glacier river is almost over or is over at present time (21-January-2014). This however does not mean that everything is over. Since there are two cauldrons in the Vatnajökull glacier in the Hamarinn volcano it means there is more water stored there now then has now flooded from the glacier. It is now clear that the eastern Skaftá glacier cauldron in Vatnajökull glacier has not emptied it self in this flood from the western Skaftá glacier cauldron.

The eastern (Eystri) and western (Vestari) cauldrons in Vatnajökull glacier. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

When the eastern glacier cauldron empties it self they are expecting a lot larger glacier flood to take place. Since there is a lot more water holding up in the eastern Skaftá glacier cauldron. It is also longer since it flooded and emptied it self. Last glacier flood from the eastern Skaftá glacier cauldron was in the year 2010. More information on how this flood system works can be found here (in Icelandic) on Icelandic university website geology department.

January 19, 2014January 19, 2014

Glacier flood started in Skaftár glacier river

It was announced today (19-January-2014) that glacier flood has started in Skaftá glacier river (or connected rivers) from Skjaftár cauldrons in Vatnajökull glacier. Currently the water is discharging from Skaftár cauldrons at the rate of 370 m3/s according to Icelandic Meteorological Office. So far no changes have taken place in harmonic tremors close to Hamarinn volcano where the Skaftár cauldrons lie within Vatnajökull glacier.

Smell of hydrogen sulphide has been detected by people living close the rivers that the glacier flood is discharging into. There is a considerable risk of poisoning if people get to close the rivers that hold the flood water. It is currently believed that it is the western Skaftár cauldron that is now emptying, that one did empty it self back the in the year 2012. That is however not going to be confirmed until the area can be checked by flying over it and see what is taking place at this location. That might take few days since it is dependent on weather when it is possible to do such flight.

Location of Skaftár cauldrons in Vatnajökull glacier. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office. Picture is taken from Icelandic Meteorological Office Facebook page.

The current flood in Skaftár glacier river. The water monitoring stations around Vatnajökull glacier. Red stations are monitored for floods, black ones are normal flow stations. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office. Picture is taken from Icelandic Meteorological Office Facebook page.

Uncertainty level has been declared in the area do to this glacier flood by the Civil Protection and Emergency Management in Iceland. It is advised against people travelling in the area while this glacier flood takes place. On Vatnajökull glacier there is also a risk of new cracks forming in the glacier was the cauldron is emptied of water in the next few days. This cracks are dangerous and really deep and wide on the top, but get narrower closer to the end of them. It is possible to monitor the glacier flood here on Icelandic Meteorological Office website.

Icelandic news about this. Some English text is in some of the news. It is possible to use Google Translate on this, but result can be unreliable.

Skaftárhlaup er mjög líklega hafið (Rúv.is, maps, English text)
Skaftárhlaup hafið en það vex óvenju hægt (Rúv.is, Icelandic, maps)
Óvissustig vegna Skaftárhlaups (Rúv.is, Icelandic, maps)

Skaftárhlaup er hafið (mbl.is, English text)
Óvissustig vegna Skaftárhlaups (mbl.is, Icelandic)
Fundað um næstu skref (mbl.is, Icelandic)

Post updated at 20:34 UTC on 19-January-2014.

January 15, 2014January 15, 2014

Increased conductivity continues in Múlakvísl glacier river (Katla volcano)

Last week I wrote about increased conductivity in Múlakvísl glacier river that comes from Mýrdalsjökull glacier (Katla volcano). This trend has continued into second week with the conductivity. The conductivity in Múlakvísl is now on the range of ~327 to ~360 µS/cm. There has also been a slight increase in water levels following this change in Múlakvísl glacier river. Normal value for this time of year according to Icelandic Meteorological Office is ~180 µS/cm in Múlakvísl glacier river. Since 31-December-2013 the conductivity in Múlakvísl glacier river has always been over 220 µS/cm.

Conductivity in Múlakvísl glacier river. Top: conductivity. Middle: Harmonic tremor. Bottom: Windspeed. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Animated image from Icelandic Meteorological Office showing changes in Múlakvísl glacier river during this time period. Original image can be found here. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

No harmonic tremors or earthquakes have been detected (besides normal activity) following this changes. What is taking place is that a cauldron in Mýrdalsjökull glacier is now leaking melt water that has been built up due to hydrothermal (hot springs) activity under the glacier. So far it does not appear that current changes in Múlakvísl glacier river mean anything at all. If that is going to change is impossible to know at this point.

Icelandic News about this

Rafleiðni há en enginn órói mælist (mbl.is)

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Post updated at 19:09 UTC on 15-January-2014.
Post updated at 20:49 UTC on 15-January-2014.

January 15, 2014

Main geophone network computer is down due to a hardware failure

As many have noticed, my webicorder website is no longer updating and has not done so since 9-December-2013. The reason why it is not updating is simple. The computer that handles the updates is now totally ruined. It was the victim of the capacitor plague that took place few years ago, the main-board that failed is from the year 2007 (7 years old) and it clear that this issue with capacitor was not over when this motherboard was made.

The blown capacitors on the motherboard. As can be seen, it is totally ruined. Image is under Creative Commons Licence, please see CC Licence page for more details.

Second picture of the damage to the capacitors on the motherboard. Image is under Creative Commons Licence, please see CC Licence page for more details.

This failure was so bad it crashed my router and internet connection until I was able to reboot it when I got back home. Cost of a new computer (motherboard+cpu+graphic card+memory) is 268,16€ (350€ if I want to have some space to adjust if something isn’t available) according to my best estimate. I just want to buy and install it my self. I guess the hard drive is fine, but I have not yet tested it and I guess that I won’t test it until I get new computer. As my finances currently stand there is no hope that I am going to be able to afford this any time soon. So any donations in order to help me fix this problem are welcomed.

Without the webicorder website and this computer I am not going to be able to post high resolutions of earthquakes and it is not going to be possible to monitor earthquake swarms in Iceland in close to real time. Since this computer did handle all geophones in one place. It also uploaded the images for the geophones and I had on it the software to locate and analyse earthquakes that took place in Iceland and worldwide. This computer also allowed me to monitor for earthquakes in Denmark and other nearby countries if anything major did happen (earthquakes over magnitude 5,0). I hope that I can replace this hardware soon. Just how soon that is going to be I do not know at the moment.

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