Swarm – Page 92 – Iceland geology

August 15, 2014

Earthquake swarm in Hveravellir

Two days ago (13-August-2014) an minor earthquake swarm took place in Hvervellir (volcano). Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 2,5. All the earthquakes that happened had depth less then of 10 km.

Earthquake swarm in Hveravellir (blue dots). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Earthquake activity is fairly common in this area. It however works in a short activity periods with long quiet period between them. So far nothing suggest that major earthquake activity is going to take place there, as has happened in the past. If that happens, the largest earthquakes can go up to magnitude 5,0.

August 12, 2014August 13, 2014

Intra-plate earthquakes in north west Iceland

During the night of 12-August-2014 several intra-plate earthquake took place in north west Iceland. Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 1,5. This earthquake activity did appear poorly on my geophone in Böðvarshólar. That is due to distance and small magnitude of the earthquakes, but my geophone at Böðvarshólar did detected this earthquake activity and from that I know that more earthquake activity took place than appears on Icelandic Meteorological Office maps.

The earthquakes in north west Iceland (yellow). This are intra-plate earthquakes. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

This earthquake activity is not connected to any known fault zone or any known faults. That however does not mean they are not there. It is impossible to know if there is going to be more earthquake activity in this region. This is however second time this year a earthquake swarm takes place in this area, last one took place in week 28 (in Icelandic). That week the largest earthquake had the magnitude of 1,6.

August 12, 2014

Minor earthquake swarm in Krísuvík volcano

Yesterday (11-August-2014) a minor earthquake swarm took place in Krísuvík volcano. The largest earthquake in this minor earthquake swarm had the magnitude of 3,4 with the depth of 4,4 km. Only few minor earthquakes took place after the largest earthquake.

The earthquake swarm in Krísuvík volcano, the green star shows the location of the magnitude 3,4 earthquake. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

There is a risk of more earthquake activity in this area. Since earthquake swarms are known to start with minor activity that slowly grows until it tops and then slowly drops over a period of days or weeks. It might not happen now, but this is a common pattern on the Reykjanes.

July 31, 2014

Minor earthquake swarm in Torfajökull volcano

Today (31-July-2014) a minor earthquake swarm took place in Torfajökull volcano. This was a minor earthquake swarm and no earthquake did go above magnitude 3,0. Strongest magnitude of this earthquake swarm had the magnitude of 2,3. Depth of this earthquake swarm was from 15,1 km to around 1,0 km.

The earthquake swarm in Torfajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

This earthquake swarm appears to be over, at least at the moment. It might start again at later time. Earthquake activity is common in Torfajökull volcano and there are no signs of any other activity from Torfajökull volcano at the moment.

July 15, 2014

Earthquake swarm in Katla volcano

Few days ago the uncertainty level around glacier rivers that come from Mýrdalsjökull glacier have been cancelled. However the area remains dangerous due to gases that might collect in pockets in low lying areas. So it is not safe to go close to the glacier rivers from Mýrdalsjökull glacier even if the uncertainty level has been cancelled by the authorities.

Earthquake activity today in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Today (15-July-2014) an earthquake swarm took place in Katla volcano. Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 3,1. Other earthquake that happened where smaller. This earthquake swarm is one of the most dense in the past few weeks and it appears that earthquake activity is once again on the rise in Katla volcano. I am now expecting this earthquake activity to continue. I also think there is a high risk of small eruptions within the Katla volcano caldera. This eruptions would only last for few hours at the most and not even break trough the Mýrdalsjökull glacier. It has to be noted that scientist on duty at Icelandic Meteorology Office does not agree with my opinion. While there is a high risk of this (in my opinion) that this might happen, it does not mean it is going to do so. The best thing that can be done for now is to observe activity in Katla volcano.

If anything more happens. I am going to post update on it soon as possible. Any large earthquakes that happen in Katla volcano do appear clearly on my geophone at Heklubyggð and they can be viewed here. There is also a web camera of Katla / Eyjafjallajökull located here.

July 9, 2014July 9, 2014

Uncertainty level declared at Katla volcano

Today (8-July-2014) a uncertainty level was declared at Katla volcano. This means that people should be aware of the activity that is now taking place in Katla volcano. The most dangerous areas at the moment are the glacier rivers that come from Katla volcano, due the extremely dangerous gases that are in the water coming from Mýrdalsjökull glacier. People should not stop at Múlakvísl glacier river and other glacier rivers that come from Mýrdalsjökull glacier due to this danger. It is also unclear if an larger glacier flood might take place, if it does it is going to happen with no warning at all. Tourist in the area also urged to have there mobile phones turned on in case emergency SMS needs to be sent to people in the area around Mýrdalsjökull glacier.

Earthquake activity in Katla volcano during the past 24 hours. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Currently [when I write this text] there is little earthquake activity in Katla volcano. That calm might not last, since earthquake activity has had the pattern of dropping off for few hours between peaks in activity. The largest earthquake during the past 24 hours had the magnitude of 3,0. Smaller earthquakes had the magnitude of 2,7 and lower magnitudes.

The magnitude 3,0 earthquake in Katla volcano this morning at 09:18 UTC. This image is released under Creative Commons licence. Please see CC Licence page for more details.

Earthquake activity has been in the same pattern as did happen in July-2011. So far no harmonic tremor has been detected. It is impossible to know if this is going to result in a eruption or not. The risk of an eruption is higher now then normal, but that does not mean that a eruption is going to take place. It is possible to see larger earthquakes from Katla volcano here on my webicorder website. It is possible to see Katla volcano here if it is not too cloudy.

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July 7, 2014

Update at 21:27 UTC on earthquake activity in Katla volcano

This is a short update on what is now taking place in Katla volcano. This information might go outdated quickly after it is being written.

Currently the earthquake activity in Katla volcano is increasing. However there are no signs of imminent eruption as is. However that might change without notice under my current estimate. It is impossible to know if this activity in Katla volcano is going to continue to increase or slow down again. It is my estimate that activity in Katla volcano is going to continue to increase (based on past experience) before it quiets down again. That might not result in a eruption, since this type of activity does not mean that an eruption is going to take place. This activity in Katla volcano has increased that risk at current time and until this earthquake activity stops or gets to lower levels, that risk is going to remain higher then normal. As things stand now there are no signs of that an eruption is going to take place in Katla volcano.

The earthquake activity in Katla volcano during the past 48 hours. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

During the minor eruption in Katla volcano in July-2011 (I wrote about it here and here) a minor earthquake swarm like this was also detected in Katla volcano. Back then as now it did start about one month earlier before the minor eruption took place. That activity took place in different part of the caldera then the activity that is now taking place. Today the activity in Katla volcano is the area that might have erupted during the 1918 eruption in Katla volcano (I think).

The magnitude 3,0 earthquake in Katla volcano yesterday. This image is under Creative Commons licence. Please see CC Licence page for more details.

This earthquake clearly shows the sign of magma under pressure creating a earthquake. This is a possibly a tornillo event. Since it is a low frequency, monochromatic and with long tale in it’s end. I don’t know what is going to happen next in Katla volcano, if anything happens at all other then just this earthquake activity. More water has been reported in Múlakvísl along with higher conductivity taking place, that however might just be rain water in the area since it has been experiencing heavy rain for the past few days. I am going to continue to watch the activity in Katla volcano.

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July 3, 2014July 4, 2014

Ongoing earthquake activity in Katla volcano

There is currently an ongoing earthquake activity in Katla volcano. So far this earthquake activity has been small in terms of magnitude, with the largest earthquake only having the magnitude of 2,7.

The earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Updated image of the activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

The earthquakes that I have recorded so far are low period earthquake. Suggesting that they are being created due to magma or hydrothermal change inside the volcano. So far nothing suggests that an eruption is imminent. But I find this activity in Katla volcano suspicious and something that needs to watch, since I think this might be a risky situation and it might change on short notice.

Hekla volcano

A magnitude 2,3 earthquake with the depth of 9,9 km took place in Hekla volcano system on 02-July-2014 at 23:48:57 UTC. No other activity took place following this earthquake. It is not clear why this earthquake activity is taking place in Hekla volcano.

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Article updated at 22:05 UTC.

June 18, 2014June 18, 2014

Magnitude 3,2 earthquake in Katla volcano

Today (18-June-2014) at 10:20 UTC a magnitude 3,2 earthquake took place in Katla volcano caldera. A swarm of smaller earthquakes did happen after the main event. Depth of the main earthquake was 2,5 km.

The magnitude 3,1 earthquake in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Following this earthquake few minor earthquakes appeared. None of them had a magnitude above 1,0. So far things remain quiet in Katla volcano and it is difficult to know for sure if this is something more than just summer earthquake activity in Katla volcano. I am at least going to keep an eye out for activity in Katla volcano.

The magnitude 3,1 earthquake as it did appear on my geophone in Heklubyggð. This image is under Creative Commons Licence. Please see CC Licence page for more details.

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Post updated at 14:45 UTC.

June 7, 2014

Deep earthquake swarm in Katla volcano

Yesterday (6-June-2014) there was an earthquake swarm of small earthquakes in Katla volcano. The depth of this earthquakes was from 24 to 28 km. None of this earthquakes had the magnitude above 2,0 and the strongest earthquake only had the magnitude of 1,5 in the caldera rim.

The earthquake activity in Katla volcano caldera. The earthquake swarm took place under the rim of the caldera. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Today (7-June-2014) other anomaly activity has been showing up. Few earthquakes have been showing up 10 km north-east of the Vík í Mýrdal village. All of the earthquakes in question are small. There depth is from 18,4 and down to 29,2 km. The activity is inside the Katla volcano system it self, as it stretches out to this area. But this activity is taking place on the rim of the Katla volcano system as it is known today.

The earthquake activity 10 km north-east of Vík í Mýrdal village. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Earthquake activity at this depth is not because of stress changes in the crust. This earthquake activity is most likely due to some changes in the magma inside Katla volcano. It probably does not mean anything in terms of risk of eruption at the moment, at least not while the activity remains on the low levels as it currently is. Given the experience from the minor eruption in July-2011, earthquake activity in Katla volcano needs to be considerably higher then it currently is. It is impossible to know if this deep earthquake activity signals any change in Katla volcano activity for coming months, it’s all just wait and see, same as before.

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