Category: TFZ

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Earthquake swarm 43 km west of Grímsey island

Yesterday (31-March-2018) at 09:35 UTC a magnitude 3,2 earthquake happened 43 km west of Grímsey island. Due to distance from land this earthquake was not felt far as I know. Second largest earthquake had a magnitude of 2,6. All other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude.


The earthquake activity 43 km west of Grímsey island (green star). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There is also a developing earthquake swarm just off the coast of Gjögurtá (red dots on the image above). So far it has not resulted in any strong earthquake and its unclear if that is going to happen.

I would have written this article sooner but I fell asleep.

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Minor earthquake activity on Tjörnes Fracture Zone

During the night a minor earthquake swarm took place on two parts of the Tjörnes Fracture Zone. The first earthquake swarm was just 19,9 km north-east of Siglufjörður village. Largest earthquake in that swarm had a magnitude of 3,1.


The earthquake activity in Tjörnes Fracture Zone. Largest earthquake is the green star. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

The second earthquake swarm was north-east of Grímsey Island and it was a minor swarm. Largest earthquake in that swarm had a magnitude of 2,8. Other earthquakes that happened were smaller in magnitude.

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Earthquake swarm west of Kópasker village

Early morning today (22-Februar-2018) at 07:34 UTC a magnitude 3,6 earthquake happened west of Kópasker village. This earthquake was felt in Kópasker and in 90 km distance from where it happened.


The earthquake activity west of Kópasker (green star). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Before the main earthquake two fore-shocks took place according to Icelandic Met Office. It is not known if current sequence of event is going to result in a larger earthquake on Tjörnes Fracture Zone.

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Nafir volcano (TFZ) update at 17:45 UTC on 20-February-2018

Information in this article is going to get outdated quickly.

Currently there activity in Nafir volcano in the TFZ has quieted down since yesterday. Only one earthquake with the magnitude 3,0 has been detected since midnight. This earthquake swarm is ongoing as is even if it is just making smaller earthquakes at the moment. There has not been many earthquakes with magnitude above 2,0 since midnight. Most earthquakes currently happening are earthquakes with magnitudes below 2,0.


Current earthquake activity in Nafir volcano, TFZ. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


Current earthquake activity is not that dense at the moment. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Currently there is extremely bad weather on the way to Iceland. That weather might have an effect on detection of small earthquakes in Tjörnes Fracture Zone and other parts of Iceland.

If anything happens I’ll update this article.

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Nafir volcano update (TFZ) at 21:50 UTC

Information in this article are going go outdated quickly.

Here are the latest magnitude updates from the earthquakes this morning as reported by Icelandic Met Office and USGS.

Magnitude 4,9 at 05:34 UTC. USGS reports this as mb4,8.
Magnitude 5,2 at 05:38 UTC. USGS reports this as mb5,0.
Magnitude 4,0 at 06:32 UTC. USGS reports this as mb4,5.

In the last 48 hours 68 earthquakes larger than magnitude 3,0 have happened in Nafir volcano east of Grímsey island. In total 1497 earthquakes have been detected in the last 48 hours.


Current earthquake activity in Nafir volcano east of Grímsey island (TFZ). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


The current earthquake activity seems to be dropping a little for the moment. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Currently the weather forecast in Iceland is really bad and that is going to prevent any proper detection of smaller earthquakes. Larger earthquakes are going to go above the wind noise threshold (possibly) and be properly detected. Large enough earthquakes are going be detected by monitoring networks outside of Iceland where weather is not a factor.

Next update is going to be tomorrow about this earthquake swarm. Unless something major happens in Nafir volcano.

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Update at 12:03 UTC on earthquake swarm in Nafir volcano, TFZ, 19-February-2018

Information in this article is going to go outdated quickly.

Uncertainty level has been declared in Grímsey island and nearby area due to the strong earthquake activity in the night. Largest earthquake during the night was a magnitude 5,2 the second largest earthquake had the magnitude of 4,5 at the moment. Based on how it appeared on my geophone it possibly close to being a magnitude 5,0 earthquake. Revision takes time when a large earthquake swarm like this happens. The largest earthquake was felt over a wide area in north, north-east and north-west Iceland according to reports by Icelandic Met Office.


Current earthquake swarm in Nafir volcano east of Grímsey island in the TFZ. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


Earthquake activity is high at the moment. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There is currently no end in sight for this earthquake swarm. It remains unclear if this is due to a possible volcano event in the making or just tectonic activity. Currently there is no eruption happening at this location. Unlike what appears on the live updated maps all of the earthquake activity is located east of Grímsey island. The SIL network has problems properly locating the earthquakes automagically when a large earthquake swarm like this happens.

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Tjörnes Fracture Zone (TFZ) earthquake update at 13:20 UTC on 17-February-2018

Information in this article are going to go outdated quickly.

As of the writing of this article total of 1593 earthquakes have happened in last 48 hours in Tjörnes Fracture Zone (TFZ). The reason for this earthquake swarm remains unclear at the moment. It is not clear if this is just tectonic earthquakes or have their origins in magma movements.


The earthquake swarm in Tjörnes Fracture Zone. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


This earthquake swarm is dense. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Largest earthquake since midnight has the magnitude of 3,7 so far. In the last 48 hours total of 27 earthquakes larger than magnitude 3,0 have happened east of Grímsey island. This earthquake swarm is happening in a volcano named Nafir (no GVP profile) and that volcano doesn’t have any documented eruption during the last 12.000 years that I know of (I might be wrong). It remains unclear at the moment if an eruption is going to happen at this location. At the moment there are no clear signs of magma movement, but ISOR (Icelandic article here) suggests that current earthquake swarm might be connected to magma movement in the area. If that is going to result in a eruption remains unclear in ISOR view.

I’ll update this article as needed today.

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Update on earthquake swarm in Tjörnes Fracture Zone (TFZ) at 11:19 UTC

Information in this article is going to get outdated quickly.

When this is written there have been 999 earthquakes in the last 48 hours in the area that is east of Grímsey island when this article is written. Most earthquakes are small in magnitude but can possibly be felt by the population in Grímsey island (~86 people).


The earthquake swarm east of Grímsey island. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


Dense earthquake swarm. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity shows no signs of stopping as of writing of this article. Largest earthquakes in the last 24 hours have the magnitude of 3,1 – 4,1 and total of 12 earthquakes with magnitude above 3,0 have happened so far.

This article is going to be updated today if needed.

Update at 19:13 UTC

Total number of earthquakes is now at 1303. It is possible that I wrote the wrong number when I wrote this article earlier today. I might have been reading the wrong line.

Article updated at 19:13 UTC.

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Increase in the earthquake activity in TFZ (Tjörnes Fracture Zone)

Information in this article might get outdated quickly due to fast moving nature of the current earthquake swarm in TFZ.

The earthquake swarm that started on 28-January-2018 continues (article here). A strong earthquake swarm started east of Grímsey island almost 18 hours ago (it started around 18:00 UTC on 14-February-2018). Over 500 earthquakes have been recorded so far, most of them are between magnitude 0,0 – 2,0. In the last 48 hours three earthquakes with magnitude above 3,0 have been recorded.


Many, many earthquakes. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


Earthquake activity is dense at the moment. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

At the moment there is nothing suggesting that this earthquake swarm is connected to any magma movement. It seems to be just connected to tectonic movements in this area. This earthquake activity appears to be taking place in a volcano but that volcano doesn’t have any documented historical eruption so it is impossible to know what might happen. Last eruption in this area was in a volcano south of current earthquake activity. That volcano erupted in the years 1867 December – 1868 January, Global Volcanism Profile can be found here.

I am going to update this article as needed as this activity develops.

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Earthquake swarm on TFZ continues

The earthquake swarm on Tjörnes Fracture Zone that started on 28-January-2018 continues and on Sunday 4-February-2018 a magnitude 3,1 earthquake took place. Currently the earthquake activity is ongoing.


The earthquake activity in TFZ during the last 48 hours. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is difficult to know for how long this earthquake swarm is going to continue. It might be several more days and up to few weeks more.