Category: Magma

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Earthquake swarm in Brennisteinsfjöll volcano

Today (5-July 2024) an earthquake swarm started in Brennisteinsfjöll volcano. Largest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw3,1 at 07:17 UTC. This earthquake was felt in Reykjavík and nearby areas.

The earthquake swarm on the left side on this image, with orange dots because of the age of the earthquakes on the map. Green star shows the largest earthquake.
Earthquake activity in Brennisteinsfjöll volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

At the writing of this article, the earthquake swarm seems to have stopped. It might restart again, since that is common in this volcano and in this area.

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Update on the eruption in Sundhnúkagígar on 30. May 2024 at 00:49 UTC

This is a short update on the eruption in Sundhnúkagígar on 30. May 2024 at 00:49 UTC. This might be the only update on this eruption, since normally, eruptions in Sundhnúkagígar only last one to three days normally. If that happens now remains to be seen.

Yesterday (29. May 2024) at 12:46 UTC an eruption started in Sundhnúkagígar, close to a small mountain called Sýlingafell and other nearby mountains. This is also the same area that has had eruptions in recent months. This eruption was large and peaked at 2000m3/sec. Since then it has slowed down and is maybe only around 200m3/sec to 600m3/sec for now. The flow from the eruption is going to change without warning and quickly. The eruption fissure today was at the longest around 4 km long. Currently, at the writing of this article, the eruption fissure is around 1 to 2,5 km long. How long the fissure is going to change without warning.

The eruption fissure seen from Þorbjörn mountain today at 12:58:01. A large gas cloud is coming from the eruption in a day that is slight cloudy but with sun at that moment.
The eruption just as it had started. Picture from Rúv web camera.
The eruption at 12:47:48 UTC as it was starting. The lava fountains are reaching up to 70 meters up in the air and the gas cloud keeps growing.
The eruption as it was starting. The picture is from Rúv web camera.
The eruption as it was at 12:51:24. The peak lava fountains are reaching slightly more than 70 meters up in the air and the fissure is expanding to the south and north. Gas cloud is growing and drifting to the east.
The eruption at the start. Screenshot from Rúv web camera.
The eruption as it was at 16:12:24 UTC and reaching peak of its activity. I am not sure what the peak is on this image, but based on the lava flow that is going over a small hill. It was high and a strong lava flow was happening.
The most active hour in the eruption. Screenshot from Rúv web camera.
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Eruption has started in Svartsengi, Sundhnúkagígar area

Eruption started in Sundhnúkagígar area í Svartsengi volcano. The start of eruption seems to have been at 12:47 UTC or around that minute. The fissure is getting longer as this article is being written.

The fissure and the eruption column in red and orange colour. A large gas cloud drifts to the east from the eruption.
The eruption in Sundhnúkagígar. Screenshot from Rúv web camera.
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Earthquake swarm in Eldey volcano (out on the Reykjanes ridge)

Today (5-May 2024) at 20:33 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,5 took place close to Eldey on the Reykjanes ridge. This is out in the ocean and considerable distance from land, so more earthquakes are happening then are being registered by Icelandic Met Office.

Green star and red dots out in the ocean, on the Reykjanes ridge. This is the current earthquake swarm on Reykjanes ridge.
Earthquake swarm in the Eldey volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake swarm is ongoing at the writing of this article. There are earthquakes that are only going to appear on Icelandic Met Office website after manual review in this earthquake swarm.

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Earthquake activity in Reykjanes volcano

Today (22. April 2024) at 04:53 UTC an earthquake swarm started in Reykjanes volcano. This was not a strong or a large earthquake swarm. Largest earthquake only having a magnitude of Mw3,1. All other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude.

Green star just off the south coast of Reykjanes peninsula to the west part of it. There are also smaller dots that show smaller earthquakes in the same area.
Earthquake activity on the Reykjanes ridge and in Reykjanes volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity suggest a magma movement. It is however too little to start an eruption at the writing of this article. That can change without warning. Since the condition that the Reykjanes volcano is in is unclear, since its in part under the ocean and that makes monitoring it properly difficult and impossible in some areas.

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Moderate earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano this morning (21. April 2024)

This morning on 21. April 2024 at 06:37 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw5,4 took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. Largest aftershock had a magnitude of Mw3,0. There’s no earthquake swarm going on at the time of writing of this article. This earthquake was felt in some parts of Iceland but was possibly detected over most of Iceland in a quiet locations.

Green star showing the location of the large earthquake. Its located in the eastern part of Bárðarbunga volcano caldera.
Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This is the strongest earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano since the eruption in Holuhraun in the year 2014 to 2015. This earthquake activity is a long term signal that inflation in Bárðarbunga volcano has reached a new level. Eruption is not going to happen or is extremely unlikely to happen following this earthquake or in next few years. Shortest time between eruptions in Bárðarbunga volcano is around 10 years.

This is how I recorded the earthquake on my own seismometer.

The wave form from the earthquake. A sharp dark spike on the recording of the seismometer. At the end there are strong separated waves that show the surface waves.
The magnitude Mw5,4 earthquake as it was recorded on my own seismometer.
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Earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík volcano (13. April 2024)

I am sorry how late I am with this article. I was busy yesterday (13. April 2024) and I was unable to write this article at that time.

Yesterday (13. April 2024) at 10:02 UTC an earthquake with a magnitude of Mw3,3 took place just south of Kleifarvatn lake in Krýsuvík volcano. This earthquake swarm seems to have happened on a fault that is mostly known for earthquakes that are connected to tectonic movements in the area. This is not a fault that is connected to volcano related activity, as those are more in south-west and north-east direction. Faults that are connected to crust movement in this area have the direction north-south as seems to be the case this time. It complicates matter that magma movement deep in the crust can result in earthquakes happening on both type of faults. As I suspect what happened here.

Green star and a lot of smaller yellow to blue dots showing smaller earthquakes that happened in Krýsuvík volcano yesterday (13. April 2024).
Earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Krýsuvík volcano is not ready to start an eruption, best I can see. It is also missing a lot more earthquake activity before an eruption starts. But the signs that it is moving in that direction have started to appear. How long the wait is going to be when a eruption starts is impossible to know.

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Earthquake swarm in Askja volcano

Today (25. March 2024) starting at 08:06 UTC and ending around 11:00 UTC an earthquake swarm started in Askja volcano. The largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw3,5. The area is remote and this earthquake was not felt.

At the bottom of this image. There's a green star and few yellow dots. This is the earthquake activity in Askja volcano.
Green star in Askja volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity suggests that this was a dyke intrusion. Eruption is unlikely at the moment in Askja volcano. This activity might be the first indicators that Askja volcano has started to prepare for an eruption in the future. When is impossible to know.

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Update on the eruption in Sundhnúkagígar on 22. March 2024 at 03:42 UTC

This is a short update on the eruption in Sundhnúkagígar in Svartsengi volcano.

  • The eruption is now the longest eruption in Svartsengi volcano since this eruption cycle started on 18. December 2023.
  • There are five to seven craters erupting at the writing of this article. Bad weather has blocked the view to the eruption site for most of yesterday and today (22. March 2024).
  • The outflow of lava, based on my own estimate (that might be wrong) is that the flow is around 20m3/sec. Its not a lot at the moment and that means the lava flow goes shorter distances.
  • Large lava ponds have formed and those empty regularly, resulting in a fast moving flow of lava going down to any area downhill from the eruption.
  • One person working at the be Blue Lagoon got sick from SO2 poisoning on 20. March 2024. That person did go to a hospital and is now recovering fine, according to the news.
  • A gravel mine got filled with lava yesterday (21. March 2024) when the lava pond broke and emptied it self.
  • Bad weather makes it difficult to monitor the eruption. Next good weather won’t be until Saturday (23. March 2024).
  • Early GPS data however suggest that there is not much of a deflation or inflation happening in Svartsengi volcano. That means the magma is flowing directly to the eruption and making minimal stop on the way to the surface.

This is all for now. Next update is going to be when something new happens. If this eruption is going to last for a long time. I’ll post regular updates on it. But for now, this eruption is just going to continue as is now doing.