Volcano and earthquake activity in Iceland
Today (06-December 2025) at 10:10 and 10:13 UTC two earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,1 and Mw4,0 took place in Hamarinn volcano. This was followed by few smaller earthquakes in the same area.
No other activity has happened following this earthquake activity. There has not been any change in harmonic tremor levels. I am not expecting more activity at the writing of this article.
Today (29-October 2025) at 16:46 UTC an strong earthquake took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. This earthquake had a magnitude of Mw5,4. It was not felt according to news. This earthquake is the result of inflation that is happening in Bárðarbunga volcano and has been since its eruption ended in the year 2015.
There was some aftershock activity, but it has been minimal. Currently there are no signs of an eruption is about to start in Bárðarbunga volcano.
This morning on 20-October 2025 an strong earthquake swarm started in Katla volcano. Strongest earthquake so far had a magnitude of Mw4,5. It was most likely felt in nearby populated areas. Several earthquakes with magnitude above Mw3,0 also took place. This earthquake swarm is ongoing, but it happens in waves and at the writing of this article there is a quiet period happening.
At the moment there has not been any signs of magma movement. That might change without warning. There also not been any change in glacier water from Mýrdalsjökull glacier. That only show up after 4 to 8 hours, since it takes time for the glacier water to travel to the glacier rivers from Mýrdalsjökull glacier. If anything more important happens. I’ll post a new update on what is going on.
Today (18. September 2025) at 00:04 UTC an earthquake with the magnitude of Mw3,6 took place in Hamarinn volcano, that is south of Bárðarbunga volcano.A small aftershock took place soon after the largest earthquake. There are no signs that an eruption is about to happen. Last year this area also had an earthquake, but a bit smaller one.
It is difficult to know if any more earthquakes are going to happen in this area. At the moment that is unlikely.
On the 27-July 2025 at 23:39 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw5,2 took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. A second earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,1 took place at 23:41 UTC. That second earthquake is embedded into the first earthquake and that makes it impossible to see it in earthquake data without good analyse. The largest earthquake was felt in Akureyri, far north of Bárðarbunga volcano.
This is normal earthquake activity as Bárðarbunga volcano continues to inflate. This large earthquake happen every few month in Bárðarbunga volcano.
This is a summary update with best information I have at the moment. Some information might be out of date without me knowing about it.
If there is anything more to report. I’ll post update here about it. I don’t expect there is going to be any need for any future update at the writing of this article.
Updated at 00:59 UTC on 17th of July with missing information.
Today (16-July 2025) at 03:53:31 UTC an eruption started in Svartsengi volcano in Sundhnúkagígaröðinni crater row. This is the most northern part of the eruption area. Far from anything important. The eruption fissure doesn’t look large based on what can be seen on web cameras.
It is impossible to know how long this eruption is going to last. It might be few hours and up to few days. If needed. I’ll post updates about the eruption. Normally in this type of eruption that is not required.
Yesterday (16-June 2025) at 18:05 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,7 took place in Ljósufjöll volcano system at the depth of 18 km. It was felt in nearby area that does not have any dense population.
This earthquake activity continues to happen because of magma inflow into the crust at this location. Since the inflow of magma started at this location, the magma has not moved up into the crust that can be noticed. Resulting in pressure building up at the lower end of the crust in this part of Iceland. The crust in this area is not giving into the pressure from the magma easily and this crust is also old, dense and brittle. Making it much more difficult for any magma to move to the surface.
Deep earthquake activity continues in Eyjafjallajökull volcano. In recent weeks however the earthquake activity has been getting shallower. Going from 29 km depth and up to 24 km depth.
This activity is far away from any eruption happening again in Eyjafjallajökull volcano. This however is an interesting development. Since this is happening only 15 years after the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano.
Today (24. May 2025) there has been a strong earthquake swarm. Largest earthquake in this swarm so far had a magnitude of Mw5,1. It was felt over a wide area in south Iceland. Over 40 earthquakes with magnitude Mw3,0 or larger have taken place in last few hours.
At the writing of this article. The earthquake swarm is ongoing but seems to be slowing down at the writing of this article. Earthquake activity in this area can increase again suddenly. Icelandic Met Office says this earthquake swarm is because of tectonic movement. In my personal view there is a chance magma might be the reason for this earthquake swarm. The exact reason for this earthquake swarm is unclear at the writing of this article. That might change if this earthquake activity increases again.