Swarm – Page 95 – Iceland geology

April 13, 2014April 13, 2014

Earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge

Today (13-April-2014) an earthquake swarm started on the Reykjanes Ridge. The earthquake swarm is taking place not far from Geirfuladrangi that is an ocean rock in this area. It is only occupied by birds during the summer. This rock was formed in an eruption at this location some 300 to 700 years ago. I am not sure exactly what year that did happen. This is the second earthquakes swarm taking place at this location this month with last earthquake swarm taking place in this location on 4-April-2014 as can be seen here.

The earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Largest earthquakes have had the magnitude around 3,0 and above. Due to distance from the SIL network there magnitude is being underestimated by the automatic calculations in the SIL network. It is possible to see the earthquake appear on my geophone network here (the two stations I still have up and running in Iceland). The earthquake swarm is currently ongoing, it however drops in activity for shorter and longer period of time. I don’t know if this is due to tectonic movements or magma movement in the volcano that is at this location. So far I have not seen any signs of eruption on nearby SIL stations.

Hard drive update: I am now up and running (mostly) since I got new hard drive earlier this week. It appears that I might have lost some data. I am not sure how much data was lost. But it might have just been an minor data loss from the looks of it. Few earthquakes pictures of activity in early April-2014. This data loss was due to bad sectors on my old hard drive and the lost data cannot be recovered.

Google Adsense: As all “good” monopoly Google Adsense has close to zero help service when it comes solving issues with Google Adsense accounts. Currently my Google Adsense account is in some type of enabled or disabled state (I don’t know and information about the problem is limited to none, even if I have asked for help on this issue). I am not sure what is going to happen with my Google Adsense account. I am not sure if I am going to try and enable it soon, since that might not work at all. I am not just sure what happens if I try again since this process at Google Adsense is about 90% automatic and done with robots rather than humans.

Amazon Advertisements: Since I don’t have Google Adsense advertisements (at the moment anyway). I am going to use Amazon Advertisements and try to earn some income from them. However there is an difference between Google and Amazon. The difference is that Amazon advertisements are not CPI advertisements or CPC/PPC advertisements.

With Amazon Advertisement I get 5 to 15% of the price of each item sold on Amazon via my banners that I have up here. Each click is valid for 90 days (it used to be like that) according to Amazon FAQ (UK. US FAQ can be found here) on the income aspect of Amazon Advertisements.

April 4, 2014April 4, 2014

Earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano

Today (4-April-2014) has been marked by an large earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano. For the moment this earthquake swarm is man made. This earthquake swarm is due the fact that Orkuveita Reykjavíkur is pumping down large amount of water (full of led and other hazardous things) back into the ground. This creates pressure change in the crust and that starts an earthquake swarm in the area. It is possible to monitor this earthquake swarm here on my webicorder website.

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

Activity has been so high in this area today that it has been creating ghost earthquakes on the earthquake map of Iceland.

Some earthquakes on this map are ghost earthquakes due to high earthquake activity in Hengill volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

This earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano is going to continue for as long as they continue to pump down water into the crust in this location. As for the magnitude of the earthquakes that appear during this time is difficult to say. Largest earthquake so far had the magnitude of 2,9, it is also possible that larger earthquakes might take place in this location or nearby location if stress changes due to this activity take place. I don’t know if that is going to happen, but it is worth monitoring for such changes just in case anything happens.

Blog post updated at 20:54 UTC.
Blog post updated at 20:57 UTC.

April 4, 2014

Earthquake swarm on Reykjanes ridge

During the night (4-April-2014) an earthquake swarm took place on the Reykjanes Ridge. Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 3,5 and was felt on land according to information from Icelandic Meteorological Office. This earthquake swarm might still be ongoing, but it only lasted for about 1 hour last night. That is not really long period of activity for an earthquake swarm in this area. It is possible to monitor the earthquake here on my webicorder website. I am going to remove the test card images once I have my Gentoo Linux up and running in few days time.

The earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes Ridge. Green stars mark earthquakes with magnitude larger than 3,0. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Unconfirmed information in news on Rúv.is suggest that this earthquake swarm might have its origin in magma movement at this location. Rather than tectonic activity at the same area. This area often has powerful earthquake swarms. Earthquake swarms in this area often drop in activity for few to several days at the time, before they resume at even more powerful then before. I don’t know if that is going to happen now, there is an good chance that is going to happen now or this might just be it. All that can is possible to do at the moment is to wait and see what happens next.

Update on the hard drive saga: So I did buy a new hard drive. When I did try to use it I found out that the drive I had bought was faulty from the factory. The store has already ordered an replacement hard drive and I should get it on Monday. I hope this issue is resolved by then. I have already received donations to support buying this new hard drive. But that does not mean my financial status is good this month. But it is far better now than in April or the months before it. Thankfully. Thanks for the support. I am currently using my Windows XP (normally just used to play games) hard drive to write this while my Gentoo Linux is out of commission due the hard drive failure.

March 28, 2014March 28, 2014

Earthquake swarm in Grímsfjall volcano

Today (27-March-2014) an earthquake swarm took place in Grímsfjall volcano. This activity is connected to current minor glacier flood from Grímsvötn glacier lake that is now taking place. The glacier flood it self is an minor and is about the same size as an glacier flood from Grímsvötn glacier lake in November-2012.

Earthquake activity in Grímsfjall volcano today (27-March-2014). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Harmonic tremor has been increasing in Grímsfjall volcano following this glacier flood. The leading idea is that the glacier flood is creating this high frequency harmonic tremors. This idea however remains unconfirmed at current time.

Harmonic tremor at 21:13 UTC on 27-March-2013 at Grímsfjall volcano. The harmonic tremor starts at the end of this plot. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Harmonic tremor at 22:55 UTC on 27-March-2014. As can be seen the high (blue line) harmonic tremor is increasing at the moment. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

At present time there is nothing to suggest that an eruption has or is about to start in Grímsfjall volcano. However Grímsfjall volcano is unpredictable and highly active when it comes to eruptions. If an eruption starts in Grímsfjall volcano it might do so without an warning. Earthquake activity in Grímsfjall volcano would increase sharply just before the eruption would start as was the case before the eruption in 2011 (covered here). More detailed monitoring can of Grímsfjall volcano and other volcanoes in Vatnajökull glacier can be found here (Icelandic).

Advertisement: As I did say few days ago. I am adding advertisement back to my websites. Since I need to eat and pay the bills. There however has been a minor issue with my Google Adsense account. An issue that has so far not yet been resolved by Google. Once its resolved I am going to go trough the process of getting my account approved again. I was too detailed back in January when I closed down my Google Adsense account. I hope to have advertisements back before some volcano erupts in Iceland.

March 24, 2014

Three earthquakes in Hekla volcano. Earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano

For the past 24 hours tree earthquakes so far have been recorded in Hekla volcano. There is no sign of eruption or anything other than earthquakes taking place at present time.

The earthquake activity in Hekla volcano (top left). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

It is possible to monitor Hekla volcano here for earthquakes (almost real-time data).
Here is an list of web cameras that point to Hekla volcano.
Míla web camera of Hekla volcano can be viewed here.
IMO earthquake web page can be viewed here.

Currently there is bad weather in south Iceland that makes observation and monitoring of Hekla volcano difficult.

Earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano

Yesterday (23-March-2014) and Today (24-March-2014) an earthquake swarm took place in Hengill volcano. This earthquake swarm has its source in water being pumped down into the ground from Orkuveita Reykjavíkur (geothermal plant in this area).

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

This are not volcano related. This happens when cold water (polluted) is being pumped back into the ground. That makes earthquake swarms like this one common.

February 26, 2014February 26, 2014

Two magnitude 3,4 earthquakes in TFZ

Today (26-February-2014) at 08:06 and 08:12 UTC two earthquakes with the magnitude of 3,4 took place in TFZ. This earthquakes where felt in Ólafsfirði. This earthquake activity started on Monday and is continuing.

The two 3,4 magnitude earthquakes on TFZ. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Historical and newest earthquake activity in this area of TFZ.Image is from here (Icelandic). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

The earthquake activity in TFZ is ongoing. I am expecting more earthquakes in this area as is. When they might take place is impossible to know as of now. It is possible to monitor for earthquake activity in TFZ here (and here, Icelandic Meteorologist Office website). Any earthquake larger then magnitude 2,0 is going to appear on here. The larger the earthquake, more clearly it is going to appear on my webicorders.

February 24, 2014February 24, 2014

Earthquake swarm on TFZ

Today (24-February-2014) at 06:49 UTC an earthquake swarm started on TFZ. Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 3,0. No other earthquake has so far been larger.

The earthquake swarm in TFZ. It is aligned in north-south direction. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

It is possible to monitor for earthquakes here with 5 minute delay. The activity appears most clearly on Böðvarshólar and Bjarghús geophone stations. This appears to be an continued activity from the earthquake swarm that started back in October 2012. I am expecting more earthquakes in the area since I don’t expect this activity to be over yet. Quiet times between earthquake activity should be expected. For some unknown reason that is how this area behaves and it is not known why that is.

February 17, 2014

Minor earthquake swarm in Katla volcano

Over the past two days minor earthquakes have been taking place in Katla volcano. This is just minor earthquake activity. None of the earthquakes so far have reached the magnitude 1,0 that I know of.

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

What is interesting about this earthquake activity is that it is taking place inside the caldera of Katla volcano and it is taking place in high winter. When earthquake activity is normally low. What this means is unknown as is and I do not think an eruption is imminent in Katla volcano. This activity is however something to keep an eye on. Since Katla volcano is known to have erupted as early in May. Last such eruption took place in the year 1721 and lasted until October that same year (+-45 days). It is not known if eruptions can take place earlier, I am not going to rule it out even if it is not documented in historical documents about past eruptions in Katla volcano.

Donation notice: Please remember to support my work by donation. Otherwise I am going to be hungry for the rest of Feburary-2014 since I don’t have any money at the moment. I also have on sale my first short story. It can be bought DRM-free on Kobo.com here. It costs 4,99€ or $6,99 (plus your local VAT rate). Thanks for the support.

February 17, 2014

Minor earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano

Yesterday (16-February-2014) an minor earthquake swarm took place in Hengill volcano. This earthquake swarm took place because Orkuveit Reykjavíkur (OR) was pumping down water from hydrothermal processing in this part of Hengill volcano.

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

This type of earthquakes happen regularly when Orkuveita Reykjavíkur pumps water down into the ground at this location. At the moment this is just making minor earthquakes. This type of earthquake swarm only last during the period when water is being pumped down into the ground. Once that process is stopped the earthquake activity stops almost immediately.

Donation note: While I have started selling my first short story. I still need donations since I don’t have enough income from selling books at the moment to survive of it (it also takes 45 days to get paid from the day I reach the minimal payment of $100 [~73€ equal]). As for current month of February. I am going to thankful if I just make it since at the moment I am completely broke. I don’t even have 20€ on in the bank at the moment. I am thank broke now. Thanks for the support.

February 6, 2014February 6, 2014

Minor earthquake swarm in Geysir volcano and Presthjúkar volcano

Yesterday (05-February-2014) an minor earthquake swarm took place in Geysir volcano (no GVP information) and in Presthnjúkar volcano. None of the earthquakes where above the magnitude of 2,6. The largest earthquakes did appear on my geophone network and were (are for the next few hours when this is written) visible on my webicorders website.

Earthquake activity in Presthnjúkar volcano and Geysir volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Other than this minor earthquake swarm it remains quiet in Iceland. I am not sure why that is at current time. This is the longest quiet period that I remember for the past 5 years at least.

Donation notice: Please remember to donate so that I can keep working on this website. I keep this website now free of advertisement. Instead I depend on donations in order to be able to write about Icelandic volcanoes and earthquakes. Thanks for the support.

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