Category: Monitoring

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Update on the earthquake swarm east of Grímsey island (12-September-2022)

This is a short update on the earthquake swarm that is ongoing east of Grímsey island.

The earthquake swarm that started on 8-September-2022 east of Grímsey island is ongoing. Over 6000 earthquakes have been recorded at the writing of this article. Largest earthquakes in recent days have had a magnitude Mw4,2 and have been felt over a wide area. People living in Grímsey island and tourists in Grímsey island feel this earthquake swarm clearly.

Green stars and red dots in line east of Grímsey island in the ocean. Green star is also close to Húsavík, but that might be an error in recording
Earthquake activity in Tjörnes Fracture Zone. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There are no signs of an eruption is about to start. That might change without warning, but I don’t know likely an eruption is in this location because there’s no good data on possibility of an eruption. There’s also no clear reading from any nearby GPS station. This most likely is just an earthquake swarm. The risk of a magnitude 6 to 7 earthquake in this area remains high and such earthquakes can happen without warning.

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Magnitude Mw4,9 earthquake east of Grímsey island (Tjörnes Fracture Zone)

During the night of 8-September-2022 at 04:01 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw4,9 took place east of Grímsey island. According to news reports this earthquake did wake up people in Grímsey island and was felt over a wide area in north-eastern Iceland. Over 22 earthquakes with magnitude above Mw3,0 have taken place since this earthquake swarm started. Over 700 earthquakes have been recorded at the writing of this article. This earthquake swarm is ongoing and number of earthquakes and possible stronger earthquakes might happen after this article is published.

A lot of green stars showing earthquakes over magnitude 3,0 east of Grímsey island and more red and orange dots showing smaller earthquakes. The map is brown for land mass and blue for ocean area, were the earthquake swarm is taking place
Earthquake activity east of Grímsey island. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Earthquake swarms like this are common in this part of Tjörnes Fracture Zone and happen every 2 to 3 years, it is longer between large earthquakes in the magnitude range of 6,0 to 7,0, but they do happen. This area has an volcano, but there are no signs that is currently active and remains dormant.

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Magnitude Mw3,1 earthquake in Torfajökull volcano

Today (06-September-2022) at 13:19 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,1 took place in Torfajökull volcano. This earthquake took place in the caldera rim. There were few other minor earthquakes in the same location.

Green star on the line in Torfajökull volcano that shows the caldera rim of that volcano. Few orange dots under the green star.
Green star in Torfajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This area of the Torfajökull volcano caldera has been having activity for several years. The amount of activity in this area goes up and down and for the longest time now, there hasn’t been anything going on there. What is going on in this area is unclear, since I don’t see any obvious signals that an volcano activity is about to start in this area. Torfajökull volcano does not erupt lava flows, since its magma are Andesitic magma and up to Rhyolitic magma types [Magma types on Wikipedia]. That results in a ash cloud eruption. Last eruption in Torfajökull volcano was in the year 1477, probably triggered by a dyke intrusion from Bárðarbunga volcano.

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Magnitude Mw3,5 earthquake south-west of Keilir mountain

During the night of 6-September-2022 an earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,5 took place 1,2 km south-west of Keilir mountain. The depth was 4,1 km. This earthquake was part of a swarm of earthquakes in that same area. All of them smaller than this earthquake.

Green star just south-west of Keilir mountain, with blue dots showing older and smaller earthquakes in the same line to Fagradalsfjall mountain
Earthquakes close to Keilir mountain. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake swarm and activity strongly suggests that a new earthquake time period is about to start. If it is going to end in a eruption like in July – August is a wait and see situation. How this develops is also impossible to know. It seems that for now, this earthquake swarm is over. Earthquake activity is ongoing and continuos on Reykjanes peninsula and has been since 2021 when cycle of earthquake and volcano activity started.

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Earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge close to Eldeyjarboði blind skerry

During the night of 27-August-2022 an earthquake swarm took place close to Eldeyjarboði blind skerry. Largest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw3,1. Other earthquakes where smaller and at this distance, only earthquakes with magnitude above Mw2,2 were detected. The distance from Reykjanestá is about 80 to 90 km. Last eruption in this area was in the year or around the year 1830. Location of the earthquakes detected is not accurate because of distance from the SIL network.

Green star far from the coastline of Reykjanes peninsula on the Reykjanes ridge with few orange dots in a line with it. The green star is second one on the left
Earthquake activity on Reykjanes ridge. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

What is happening at this location is unknown. This can just be normal tectonic activity or this can be earthquake activity related to volcanism at this location. It is impossible to know since the area is under ocean and unless an eruption is seen. This can be assumed to be normal tectonic earthquake activity in this area.

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Strong earthquakes deep on Reykjanes ridge

Today (21-August-2022) at 15:28 UTC and 15:27 UTC two strong earthquakes took place at distance of 531 km from Reykjavík. The smaller earthquake had a magnitude of mb4,7 (EMSC information) and the larger earthquake had a magnitude of Mw5,1 (EMSC information). At 16:32 UTC an mb4,4 earthquake took place (EMSC Information).

This might be a eruption at this location or about to start. It is impossible to know for sure because of distance from the coastline and depth of ocean at this location. If an eruption happens, it is not going to be observed at all. The ocean depth at this location is 2,5 to 8 km (deepest areas).

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Magnitude Mw3,2 earthquake in Reykjanes volcano

This is a short article.

Today (20-August-2022) at 05:45 UTC an Mw3,2 earthquake took place in Reykjanes volcano. This is a part of a longer pattern in this volcano. This is going to end in a eruption, when that happens, is impossible to know.

Green star close to Reykjanestá in Reykjanes volcano. With yellow and blue dots show older earthquakes in the area
Earthquake activity in Reykjanes peninsula close to Reykjanestá in Reykjanes volcano. Copyright of image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This might also signal a new earthquake activity since the eruption in Meradalir valley is about to end. The situation is complex and many volcanoes that are now active on Reykjanes peninsula.

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The eruption in Meradalir is going to end in next few days

Today (19-August-2022) there hasn’t been any lava flow seen from the crater in Merdalir valley in Fagradalsfjall mountain according to University of Iceland, Earth Science on Facebook. Few splashes of lava have been seen coming from the crater. This has also been observed on web cameras watching the eruption. Harmonic tremor has also dropped considerably since yesterday (18-August-2022) and continues to drop.

When the eruption ends exactly is unclear, but it might happen in the next few days.

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Increasing pulse activity in the eruption signals end of the eruption

It has been reported in the news today (18-August-2022) at Rúv that more pulse activity has been seen. This results in lava being thrown up high in the air.

This is the same pattern as happened last year in the eruption in Geldingadalir valley. It took a while for that eruption to end and that might also be the case now.

Other than this, there have not been any other news of the eruption. There also has been interesting events out in the lava field, where the new lava is compressing the lava from 2021, resulting it being squeezed out at the edges. Since there is still flowing lava in the lava field from 2021 and that is going to be like that for many decades until this lava field cools through.

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Changes in harmonic tremor in Meradalir valley eruption

This morning on (13-August-2022) at 06:30 to 08:00 UTC there was a sharp drop in harmonic tremor activity in the eruption in Meradalir valley. What happened is unclear, since no change has so far happened on the surface. From the looks of the harmonic tremor now, it seems that it is unstable currently.

Harmonic tremor plot on 0.5 - 1Hz, 1 - 2Hz, 2 - 4Hz, showing small drop in harmonic tremor around date of 13/08 as shown on the tremor plot
Harmonic tremor plot in Fagradalsfjall mountain, SIL station Fagradalsfjall (faf). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

New fissures might be about to open up, this can happen both north and south of current eruption. New fissures might also open up on either side of current eruption if that is a path that the magma can take. What happens is unclear and it is impossible to know when that might happen. Depending on the were next eruption happens, might mean a lot when it comes to possible lava paths and possible road damage if lava flows over a important road on Reykjanes peninsula.

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