Category: Monitoring

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Strong earthquake in Presthnjúkar volcano

One of the most quiet volcanoes in Iceland is Presthnjúkar. That seems to be about to change. Yesterday (23-June-2022) at 22:12 an earthquake with magnitude of Mw4,6 and aftershock of Mw3,7 took place in the volcano. It was felt over a large part of south and west and north Iceland because of its central location.

Two green stars on top of each other along with few orange dots in Presthnjúkar volcano marked by a elongated circle on map showing the Langjökull glacier. North-east of Presthnjúkar is the Hveravellir volcano
Earthquake activity in Presthnjúkar volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is difficult to know what is going on there, since the history of this volcano is poorly known. Few minor eruptions took place there sometimes between the years 700 to the years 900 or around those years. At this stage it is impossible know if an new eruption cycle has started or is about to start in this area. Given the activity south-west of Presthnjúkar volcano. That possibly should not be ruled out for now.

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Earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,9 north-west of Grindavík

During the night (14-June-2022) an earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,9 took place north-west of Grindavík, this is west of mountain Þorbjörn. This earthquake was felt over all of Reykjanes peninsula. This is the strongest earthquake this is area since 15-May-2022.

Green star north of Grindavík town showing the location of the largest earthquake that happened during the night. A lot of smaller earthquakes shown on the map as yellow and blue dots
Earthquake activity north of Grindavík town. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

A strong aftershock activity followed this large earthquake, with most earthquakes having a magnitude between Mw2,1 to Mw2,9. This earthquake activity is happening in the area that has formed a dyke according to measurements of this area by Icelandic Met Office. As of writing of this article, there are no clear signs that an eruption is about to start.

– This article is shorter because I am currently on limited internet when it comes to amount of data that I can use.

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Strong earthquake in Nátthagakriki south-west of Fagradalsfjall volcano

Currently I can only post articles limited. This is going to be the situation until 5th of July when I get internet connection in Denmark.

Today (8-June-2022) at 05:04 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,0 took place in Nátthagakriki that is south-west of Fagradalsfjall volcano. It has been followed by smaller earthquakes with shallow depth of 2 km. It is unclear what is going on and no changes have been seen on GPS monitoring in the last few days for this area.

Orange, yellow and red dots from Grindavík to Fagradalsfjall volcano show the earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano
Earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano system and in Fagradalsfjall volcano (mountain). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Older data already shows that magma is flowing into an area of the crust below Fagradalsfjall volcano (mountain). When that might erupt is impossible to know. It is also not possible to know when next cycle of earthquakes and eruptions starts in Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano system.

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Strong earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano this morning

Today (28-May-2022) at 08:06 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw4,4 or Mw4,7 (EMSC information can be found here) took place in Bárðarbunga volcano.

Green star and red dots in Vatnajökull glacier where Bárðarbunga volcano is located in north-west part of the edge of the glacier. Red dots showing deep earthquakes to the south-east of Bárðarbunga volcano
Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity is because of inflation in Bárðarbunga volcano magma chamber. That was emptied after the eruption in 2014 – 2015 and that resulted in collapse of Bárðarbunga volcano by drop of some 60 meters. This inflation now is reversing that process slowly. It is going to be decades until Bárðarbunga volcano erupts again because of this collapse.

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On Thursday 26-may-2022 there was a strong earthquake on Reykjanes ridge

On Thursday 26-May-2022 at 20:11 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,5. I think this earthquake was maybe felt in populated areas closest to the earthquake. This earthquake was out in the ocean, a good distance from land.

Green star out in the ocean, a little distance from land. A lot of smaller earthquakes up the Reykjanes ridge and to Reykjanes peninsula, both in red and orange dots
Earthquake activity on Reykjanes ridge and Reykjanes peninsula. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake possibly is part of the earthquake activity that is happening in Reykjanes peninsula and Reykjanes ridge. It is more difficult to know what is going on in the ocean, than on land.

Posts are going to get delayed for the next few days because I am moving to Denmark.

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Earthquake swarm north of Geysir

Today (24-May-2022) an earthquake swarm started north of Geysir. This earthquake swarm is mostly small and only around 40 earthquakes have been recorded so far. Largest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw2,8 and all other earthquakes have been smaller.

Orange dots and red dot north of Geysir, south of Langjökull glacier
Earthquake activity north of Geysir. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity is normal tectonic activity and I am not expecting anything more to happen. Larger earthquakes might happen, but at the writing of this article it seems unlikely. This area also has regular earthquake swarms.

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Strong earthquake this morning north-east of Grindavík town

Today (23-May-2022) at 07:14 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,5 took place north-east of Grindavík town. This earthquake was felt in Grindavík and in Reykjavík. The earthquake was located in a area that is either inflating or on the edge of area that is inflating.

Green stars both north-east and north-west of Grindavík town along with several orange dots that show smaller earthquakes in the area
Earthquake activity on the Reykjanes peninsula close to Grindavík. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

According to Icelandic Met Office news, the inflation around Þorbjörn mountain since the start of this earthquake activity is currently at 45mm. I don’t know how much inflation the crust can take in this area before an eruption starts in this area. Any eruption in this area is probably going to start with few craters that shut down with time and then there is just one crater that erupts until the eruption ends.

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Ongoing earthquake swarm north of Grindavík town wakes up people

Today (22-May-2022) at 09:53 and 09:57 UTC earthquakes with magnitude of Mw3,5 and Mw3,6 took place north-west of Grindavík town. This earthquake was felt and did wake up people according to the news.

Two green stars north-west of Grindavík town along with a green star north of Grindavík. A lot of orange and red dots around the area showing smaller earthquakes
Earthquake activity close to Grindavík town. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There is no signs that this earthquake activity is slowing down. It does come in waves according to Icelandic Met Office. This means that there are period of high activity with low activity between. Currently, at the writing of this article, there is a low activity period ongoing.

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Increased earthquake activity off the coast of Reykjanestá

Today (20-May-2022) around 18:00 UTC the earthquake activity off the coast of Reykjanestá, that is part of Reykjanes volcano, increased again after few days of little earthquake activity. The earthquake swarm is ongoing and always changing so this article is going to be short because of that.

Green stars out in the ocean where the main earthquake swarm is taking place just off the coastline of Reykjanestá. This is in south-west direction
Earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge, close to Reykjanestá. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Largest earthquake so far had a magnitude of Mw3,8 and the second largest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw3,5. The Mw3,8 earthquake was felt in Grindavík and on nearby towns on Reykjanes peninsula. A Mw3,0 earthquake took place just north of Grindavík and was felt in the town.

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Small earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano

Today (20-May-2022) at 15:45 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,1 took place in Hengill volcano. I don’t know if this earthquake was felt.

Green star in Hengill volcano, just north-west of Hveragerði town. Few red dots around the green star shwoing smaller earthquakes
Earthquake activity in Hengill volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

At the the writing of this article there has not been any more activity in this area. That might change without warning.