Category: Swarm

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Massive earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano

I was busy today so I only just got home and this article is going to be a short one.

Today around (09:00 UTC) a small earthquake swarm took place in Fagradalsfjall mountain. At around 12:00 UTC an stronger and more massive earthquake swarm started in Fagradalsfjall mountain. At the writing of this article more than 700 earthquakes have been recorded and that is possibly an underestimate. At the writing of this article, largest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw4,4 and more than eighteen earthquakes with magnitude above Mw3,0 had taken place. Many of them were felt in Reykjavík and other nearby towns.

Dense earthquake swarm on Reykjanes pensinsula in Fagradalsfjalli mountain. Many green stars in a row in a swarm of red dots
A lot of earthquake activity in Reykjanes peninsula in Fagradalsfjall mountain. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
Horizontal gram of the earthquake mangitudes of the earthquake swarm in Fagradalsfjall mountain. Most earthquakes from 06:00 and then a sudden jump in activity at 12:00. Several earthquakes reach magnitude 4 line and a lot the magnitude 3 line.
The time overview of the earthquake activity in Reykjanes peninsula and Fagradalsfjalli mountain. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is difficult to know when a eruption is going to start. I find that the most likely outcome of this earthquake swarm. The magnitude of the harmonic tremor suggests that an eruption would be larger than last eruption in Fagradalsfjalli mountain. It is impossible to know if that is going to happen until an eruption starts. Currently the harmonic tremor was or is dropping. I do think it is going to increase again since that seems to be a pattern in this cases of magma intrusion until an eruption starts.

I’ll post more updates as this continues. Rúv and mbl.is have turned on their web cameras. They can be found on YouTube.

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Magnitude Mw4,2 earthquake in Katla volcano

At 22:57 UTC on 29-July-2022 an earthquake with magnitude of Mw4,2 took place in Katla volcano. Few smaller earthquakes have happened following this earthquake. Magnitude of this earthquake might still change, since earthquakes in Katla volcano are the type of earthquake it takes time to get correct magnitude.

Green star in Mýrdalsjökull glacier in Katla volcano. Red dots inside the caldera shows smaller earthquakes.
Earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

I don’t know what is going on. This might just be normal summer earthquake activity and Katla volcano sometimes has this stronger earthquakes without an eruption happening. This is going to be a little wait and see on what happens next in Katla volcano.

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Earthquake swarm in Reykjanes volcano

This morning (12-July-2022) an earthquake swarm took place in Reykjanes volcano. This earthquake swarm has at the writing of this article around 30 earthquakes. Two largest earthquakes had a magnitude of Mw3,3 and Mw3,4. The second earthquake was felt in towns on Reykjanes peninsula.

Two green stars on the earthquake map from 10:00 clock this morning. Along with few red dots around the largest earthquakes
Earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes peninsula in the Reykjanes volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It has been rather quiet on the Reykjanes peninsula in last few months. There is always minor earthquake activity happening because of inflation of magma in this area. There has been lack of large earthquakes in recent months. I don’t know why that is. GPS data show that there has not been any notable inflation or deflation in Reykjanes volcano for the last few weeks. That translates into lack of earthquakes. If this earthquake swarm means that is changing is something to watch out for. Small earthquake swarm can mean change, what it means here is unclear. It is known that not every eruption starts with a big earthquake swarm in a volcano.

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Increase in earthquake activity in Katla volcano

Today (10-July-2022), earthquake activity in Katla volcano increased. Most of the earthquakes that have happened are above magnitude Mw2,0 and that is unusual. Largest earthquake at the writing of this article had a magnitude of Mw3,0.

Red dots and a green star in Katla volcano caldera on Icelandic Met Office map
The earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is unclear at the writing of this article what this means. Glacier flood from Mýrdalsjökull glacier following this earthquake activity is a possibility. Currently there are no signs that an eruption is about to start, that can change without warning. This might also just be normal summer activity in Katla volcano. At the writing of this article, the answer of what is going on is not clear.

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Earthquake swarm close to Geirfugladrangur on Reykjanes Ridge

On Monday (4-July-2022) an earthquake swarm started close to Geirfugladrangur on Reykjanes ridge. Largest earthquake on Monday had a magnitude of Mw3,2 and on Tuesday a magnitude Mw3,1 earthquake took place.

Green star on the Reykjanes ridge out in the ocean. Showing the centre of the earthquake activity
Earthquake activity on the Reykjanes ridge. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity is what seems to be increase in earthquake activity overall on Reykjanes peninsula and on the Reykjanes ridge. The ocean is deep at this location and an eruption would have to be a big one to break up to the ocean surface because of depth in the area. I don’t know how many earthquakes have happened in this area, because of more activity on Reykjanes peninsula in last few days.

Earthquake recordings

Because of how old my hardware is and difficulty keeping it running. I have for now stopped recording earthquakes. This is going to be the situation until I can get new hardware. When that happens I don’t know. Raspberry Shake has few stations in Iceland. They can be viewed here. This is the hardware I am going to be using once I can afford to buy it. When that happens I don’t know.

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Strong earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano during the morning

Today (29-June-2022) at 08:16 UTC an earthquake with magnitude Mw3,5 took place in Bárðarbunga voclano. This is the second large earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano in June.

Green star on top of smaller red dots in Bárðarbunga volcano in Vatnajökull glacier
Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This is the same activity as before with Bárðarbunga volcano. That I did explain in the article on 27-June-2022 when that earthquake took place.

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Earthquake swarm in Tjörnes Fracture Zone rift valley

Yesterday (27-June-2022) an earthquake swarm started in Tjörnes Fracture Zone in a area north-west of an place called Gjögurtá. Largest earthquakes where felt in Siglufjörður. The largest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw3,2.

Green star out in the ocean showing the largest earthquake in a small earthquake swarm that took place far north of Akuryeir town. Few earthquakes east of Grímsey island
Earthquake activity in Tjörnes Fracture Zone. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

In June 2020 this area had a large earthquake swarm with earthquakes that had a magnitude of Mw5,8. This might be an aftershock of that activity. I am not clear if that is the case, but it is a possibility.

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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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