Volcano and earthquake activity in Iceland
Yesterday (10-September-2015) there was an earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge. This earthquake swarm was small and the largest earthquake only had the magnitude of 3,1. Other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude.
Earthquake activity on the Reykjanes ridge. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.
There is a chance of more earthquake activity in this area, since earthquake swarms on the Reykjanes ridge often start slowly.
Over the past few days there have been few minor earthquake swarms taking place in Iceland. None of the earthquake swarms have been large, all of them have been minor and no earthquake did reach the magnitude of 3,0 or larger.
The earthquake swarms in TFZ, Reykjanes peninsula and Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.
Most of the earthquake activity that has been taking place has been happening in Bárðarbunga volcano, minor earthquake activity has been ongoing in the volcano and fissure since end of the eruption in February-2015. A swarm of small earthquakes took place on TFZ, none of those earthquakes reached magnitude 2,0. Most depth in this swarm was around 22 km, so magma might have been involved, this area is a rift valley. I don’t know of any documented eruption at this location, that does not mean it might not have happened. Minor earthquake swarm took place on the Reykjanes peninsula, one earthquake reached magnitude 2,8 with other earthquakes having smaller magnitude . The earthquake swarm took place in the volcano system of Krýsuvík. This earthquake swarm appears tectonic in nature rather then volcanic.
There has also been a minor earthquake swarm in Torfajökull volcano, it has been on the none-volcanic area between Torfajökull and Katla volcano. It’s unclear why this is happening, there is a chance this is a earthquake swarm in Katla volcano on the edge of the volcano system, or this is a earthquake swarm on the edge of the Torfajökull volcano system. I don’t have my maps so I can’t check for it.
Other then this it has been quiet in Iceland this week and for the past few weeks, this quiet might continue for the next few weeks to months.
Article updated at 23:45 UTC.
Kerlingafjöll volcano (no GVP profile) did have a earthquake today (25-August-2015). This was just one earthquake. Not of any special magnitude. Earthquakes are rare in Kerlingafjöll volcano and they don’t have any known historical eruptions. This one earthquake had the magnitude of 2,2 and depth of 11,1 km.
A rare earthquake in Kerlingafjöll volcano. Kerlingafjöll volcano are located south-west of Hofsjökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.
Earthquakes appear to be extremely rare in Kerlingafjöll volcano. There were no earthquakes during the large earthquakes in 2000 and 2008 from SISZ due to stress changes that follows such large earthquakes. Since I started monitoring earthquakes in the current form this is the first earthquake I’ve seen in Kerlingafjöll volcano and that is over 9 year period. In that time, it is worth noting more SIL stations have been added, making the network more sensitive to smaller earthquakes around Hofsjökull volcano.
Missing person
Body of person unknown was found in Iceland on 17-August-2015. The remains where of a male that was 186cm, with blond/white shoulder long hair, in a hood that had “quicksilver” written on it. He was also wearing a shoe that had a star on the side. According to latest news the police now believe this might be a young French man that did come to Iceland in the summer of 2014, he did go to Höfn í Hornafirði in October-2014 (date unknown). He never left Iceland. This is being investigated by authorities in Iceland in cooperation with authorities in France. If you have any details or more information please contact the police in Iceland here. Latest Icelandic news about this can be found here in Icelandic.
Article updated at 22:36 UTC.
Yesterday (17-August-2015) a swarm of small earthquakes took place in Katla volcano. This type of activity has been happening place this summer and has been happening for several years now. The reason for this is that magma is pushing or moving in the magma chamber of Katla volcano.
Earthquake activity in Katla volcano, the cluster of earthquakes is the deep earthquake activity. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.
The dept of this earthquake swarm was around 27 – 18 km. Meaning it was taking place deep inside the magma chamber of Katla volcano. No other activity has been detected at Katla volcano today. This type of earthquake activity might continue for next few days to weeks.
One year ago activity in Bárðarbunga volcano was increasing, the week before a constant earthquake swarm had been taking place in the volcano. I had planned to write about that earthquake swarm that had been taking place, that never happened due to sudden increase in Bárðarbunga volcano the day that I had planned on writing about the earthquake swarm (I don’t have that image, I think, at least I can’t find it, I possibly did not save it due to me forgetting doing so).
The earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano at 11:45 UTC on 16-August-2014. This was just the start. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
It was clear that on 16-August-2014 that something was going on when I looked at the harmonic tremor plot at Iceland Met Office website. It was going crazy. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
It was clear when looking at the harmonic tremor plot that something was going on and what was happening was big.
Green stars numbers increased as the time passed on the map, so did the magnitude and number of the earthquakes in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
When 25-August-2014 came the number of earthquakes taking place in Bárðarbunga volcano was in the thousands and earthquakes with magnitude 3,0 and larger was in the hundreds.
Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano on 25-August-2015. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
The largest earthquake that happened before the eruption started took place on 26-August-2014, it had the magnitude of 5,7 and is the largest earthquake in Iceland since 2008.
The earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano on 26-August-2015. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
The magnitude 5,7 earthquake on my geophone in Böðvarshólar. This image is under Creative Commons License. Please see CC license page for more details.
The magnitude 5,7 earthquake on my geophone in Heklubyggð. This image is under Creative Commons License. Please see CC license page for more details.
Once the eruption started in Bárðarbunga volcano by the end of August-2014 most of the earthquake activity stopped, it did continue with one to three magnitude five or larger earthquakes in Bárðarbung volcano caldera as it collapsed due the magma outflow in Holuhraun eruption area. That earthquake activity continued until end of February, when the eruption was just about the end in Holuhraun.
Early signs of what was about to happen in Bárðarbunga volcano
It is difficult to know for sure what are the early signs in Bárðarbunga volcano until after an eruption has started. One of the few clues that I know about was earthquake activity like this one. It was considered a normal earthquake activity for Bárðarbunga volcano, there is a good chance that it was a activity telling scientist that Bárðarbunga volcano was about to erupt soon.
Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano on 16-May-2014. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
It is difficult at best to know if an volcano is about to erupt or not. Clues are also difficult to see since the process of why and how eruption happens is often hard to see when data is missing, as is the case with volcanoes with long period of quiet.
Status of Bárðarbunga volcano at the moment
Currently there isn’t a lot happening in Bárðarbunga volcano. However, based on earlier historical record it is clear that current eruption activity in Bárðarbunga volcano is possibly not over yet. There is a good chance of new eruptions over the next time period of 10 – 15 years. The time between eruptions is everything from 1 year and up to 10 years (about). Quiet period in Bárðarbunga volcano can last up to 100 years, the current one that ended in 2014 lasted good 104 years. Where and when next eruption is going to take place in Bárðarbunga volcano is anyone guess, all that I know for sure is that it is going to happen and next eruption might be as big as the one in Holuhraun that ended six months ago.
It has been a quiet week 32 in Iceland. With only minimal earthquake activity taking place in the usual places, with just minor earthquakes taking place and no earthquakes with magnitude 3,0 or larger happening.
Normal background earthquake activity in Iceland. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.
This lack of activity in Iceland is normal, this quiet time might also continue for several weeks, it rarely last that long in Iceland. The areas most likely to start earthquake swarm activity are TFZ and Reykjanes and Reykjanes ridge. Other areas appear quiet at the moment.
Donations: Please remember to donate to support my work. Thanks for the support. 🙂 / Everything is now directed to Iceland, not Denmark as it has been for the past four years. Please update your information for this if you need too. Thanks. 🙂
Other things: I feel like my life is a complete mess after moving back to Iceland from Denmark. Since I don’t really fit in Iceland (at least the country side of Iceland). I plan on moving to Reykjavík capital area in few years time (waiting list for social apartment in Reykjavík area [Reykjavík, Kópavogur, Hafnarfjöður] is at least 2 – 4 years), it’s needs a little planning and my debt has to go down a little more until I’m able to do so. If it is possible then I plan on registering for school tomorrow (Monday-10-August). Since I am going to prepare my new youtube gaming channel by learning how to properly edit videos. I also plan on learning more about electronics and mechanics (ship and car engines), along with danish, German, Spanish and more English. If can’t register for school tomorrow, it is going to mean more work for me for two more months (about).
On the 01-August-2015 an earthquake swarm took place on the Reykjanes ridge. This earthquake swarm was far off the coast line and populated areas and was only seen on instruments (seismometers). The earthquake swarm appears to be over for now, it might start again without a warning. Due to the distance from the coast it might be ongoing without being detected, since only largest earthquakes are being detected by Iceland Met Office.
The earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.
Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 3,3. Other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude. There is a good chance there is a volcano at this location, it just isn’t well known. Any eruption at this location would not be seen on the surface of the ocean due to depth (1 – 3 km).
Böðvarshólar geophone: I have restarted the geophone in Böðvarshólar. Since I won’t be moving back to Denmark.
Sauðárkrókur geophone: I’m going to try getting into school at Sauðárkrókur in August due to the sudden plan changes. If I get in, I am going to be running a temporary geophone where I am going to be living during the years that I going to be in school learning electronics and other things (including, Danish, German and Spanish).
My geophone website can be found here.
Other: My plan on moving back to Denmark has been delayed permanently. The reason for that are law changes, both in EU and Denmark that make it difficult for people on social welfare to move there. At least that is my understanding of the current changes. They have also been creating problem currently and along with other tax related issues that I had to deal with. I decided that it was too much problem for me to move back to Denmark. I am just going to watch DR 1 – 3 instead along with television channels from Germany. I am at least now debt free in Denmark, since I have paid up my tax debt in Denmark that originally forced me to move back to Iceland.
Due to the reason that I am going to be permanently living in Iceland. I am now moving PayPal and other such items to Iceland. I won’t close down my danish paypal account (that is a big no-no). Paypal buttons are going to be moved to my Iceland paypal site in next few days when I have time. Direct donations option is also going to be moved to my Icelandic bank account rather than my danish one. I am going to close down my danish bank account and my danish paypal account in few years.
For the past few days there has been summer earthquake activity in Katla volcano. None of the earthquake have reached magnitude 2,0 so far.
Earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.
This earthquake activity appears to be normal in Katla volcano for the moment. The reason for this activity is melting of the glacier, that means less weight on the volcano, less pressure means changes to the hydrothermal activity inside the caldera of Katla volcano. It can be expected that this earthquake activity is going to continue for a while, at least until October at the longest, or to the time when it starts to snow again in Iceland.
Earthquake swarm started on TFZ on 27-July-2015. At the moment this earthquake swarm is minor with no earthquake reaching the magnitude of 3,0. That might change without warning.
The earthquake swarm on Tjörnes fracture zone. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.
Largest earthquakes so far have reached the magnitude of 2,7, depth is typical of fracture zone earthquake swarm. I expect this earthquake swarm to continue for the next few days at least. There is a risk of larger earthquake in this area, since it does happen that one earthquake swarm starts a new one on a nearby faults. TFZ is the fastest moving fracture zone in Iceland (see picture here).
Sudden plan changes: Due to rather unfortunate results of reality I won’t be moving back to Denmark next year. That is a great disappointment to me. There is however nothing that I can do while I am just on social welfare in Iceland. I don’t know for how long I am going to be living in Iceland, this might take few more years until I manage to move back to Denmark. The reason for this is the tax system and how it treats people on social welfare that move between the Nordic countries. This is due to complex treaties between Iceland and Denmark this did happen. There is nothing I can do about it while I am on social welfare. This means that my next mission is to stop being on social welfare and then move back to Denmark.
Böðvarshólar geophone station: Since I am not moving to Denmark in nearby future. I am going to restart the geophone station in Böðvarshólar. It should go on-line sometimes next weekend I hope. This means that I am going to be able to see earthquakes on TFZ mostly clearly and other nearby activity.
Since last weekend there has been a minor earthquake swarm taking place in Torfajökull volcano. This appears to be normal earthquake activity for this volcano, it often has this type of swarm activity, mostly due to changes in hot springs and hydrothermal activity in the volcano.
Torfajökull volcano is located north of Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.
This is normal earthquake activity in Torfajökull volcano as it looks at the moment. Since this has happened before, this earthquake swarm might last for few more days to weeks. It is difficult to know for sure. New hot springs might open up and old one close while this is taking place, so people who are travelling in this area need to be aware of that risk.