Monitoring – Page 119 – Iceland geology

March 14, 2014March 14, 2014

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.

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.

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March 3, 2014

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.

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.

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February 26, 2014February 26, 2014

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.

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

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.

February 25, 2014February 25, 2014

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.

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.

February 24, 2014February 24, 2014

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.

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.

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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