Category: Magma

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Strongest earthquake in Ljósufjöll volcano system so far

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.

Green star showing the earthquake in the mountain area of Ljósufjöll volcano system in western part of Iceland. Just north of Borgarnes town.
The earthquake activity in Ljósufjöll volcano system. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

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.

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Deep earthquake activity continues in Eyjafjallajökull volcano

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.

Orange and red dots showing the smaller earthquakes in Eyjafjallajökull volcano. That is located west of Mýrdalsjökull glacier.
Earthquake activity in Eyjafjallajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

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.

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Strong earthquake swarm close to Eldey and Geirfugladrangur island on Reykjanes ridge

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.

A lot of green stars and red dots on Reykjanes ridge out in the ocean. This shows the earthquake swarm just off the coast of Iceland.
The earthquake swarm on Reykjanes ridge. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

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.

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Magnitude Mw4,8 to Mw5,3 earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano

Today (5-May 2025) at 21:14 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw4,8 to Mw5,3 took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. The difference in magnitude is between Icelandic Met Office (Mw4,8), EMSC (Mw5,1) and USGS (Mw5,3). I do not know why this difference is.

Two green stars and red dots showing the earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano in last few hours.
Green stars and red dots show the earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs of Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity is because if inflation of Bárðarbunga volcano that has been going on since the eruption ended in Bárðarbunga volcano on 27-February 2015. This type of earthquake activity should be expected every few months in Bárðarbunga volcano.

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Strong earthquakes in Reykjanes volcano

Around 17:00 UTC today (01-April 2025) an earthquake with magnitude of Mw5,3 took place in Reykjanes volcano. This might not be earthquakes because of tension changes in the crust in this area. It is a possibility, but at the moment what is going on is unclear.

A lot of green stars showing large earthquakes in Reykjanes volcano along with all earthquake activity in Svartengi volcano.
Earthquake activity in Reykjanes volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

If the earthquake activity in the Reykjanes volcano are not tension earthquakes an eruption might stat out in the ocean. That would be explosive eruption. It is too early to know if that is the case. But next few hours should show if that is the case or not. Earthquake activity is ongoing and the this situation can change quickly and without warning.

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Eruption in Svartsengi volcano, Sundhnúkagígar crater row

This morning around 06:30 a dyke intrusion started in Svartsengi volcano with a strong earthquake swarm. An eruption started at around 09:50 UTC. This eruption is happening only in the area south of the area that erupted on 21. November 2024. A dyke formed in this even and is around 11 km long. This dyke might get longer and is possibly getting longer at the writing of this article.

A lot of red dots on Reykjanes peninsula because of the eruption in Svartsengi volcano, in Sundhnúkagígar crater row.
Earthquake swarm because of dyke intrusion and eruption in Svartsengi volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
A view of the earthquake swarm. Showing the sharp increase of the earthquake around 06:30 UTC.
How the earthquake progressed today in Svartsengi volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
Picture showing the eruption south of the defense barrier. Abandoned greenhouse next to the defense barrier. Picture from Rúv web camera.
The lava flow from Rúv web camera on YouTube. Screenshot from Rúv web camera.

This situation is still developing and can change quickly. I’ll post update as needed if anything major happens.

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Deep earthquakes in Eyjafjallajökull volcano

During the last few weeks there has been slow increase in deep earthquakes in Eyjafjallajökull volcano. This is unusual because it erupted in the year 2010 and in general only erupts every 290 to 700 years, based on current data into the eruption history of Eyjafjallajökull volcano.

Two dots in Eyjafjallajökull volcano. One blue, as its an earthquake from last 48 hours and one red since that's an earthquake from today (31. March 2025).
Earthquake activity in Eyjafjallajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Depth of the earthquakes that have so far happened is around 24 to 26 km of those have been reviewed by Icelandic Met Office. Before the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano in the year 2010 it took around 10 years from start of deep earthquakes until an eruption took place. This might just be deep earthquake activity that might not result in a eruption in next few decades. At the moment this earthquake activity is too small and too few earthquakes to know for sure what is going on.

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Strong earthquake swarm in Bárðarbunga volcano

This evening on 22-February 2025 at 21:04 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw5,2 took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. This has been followed by several smaller earthquakes and this earthquake swarm seems to be ongoing.

Green stars and red dots in Bárðarbunga volcano that is located to the west part of this image, not far from the center in Vatnajökull glacier. Other parts of this image show other volcanoes with limited earthquake activity.
Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity is possibly magma trying to find a path to the surface. If it is going to be successful now is another story. It is possible for the magma to fail this. It is difficult to know how this is going to evolve and progress in Bárðarbunga volcano. However, it is clear that for now, no eruption is imminent.

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Earthquake swarm in Ljósufjöll volcano

Yesterday (16. January 2025) an earthquake swarm started in Ljósufjöll volcano. This is an area that has had an earthquake swarm since 2020 or 2021. Largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw3,2.

Green star and a lot of small dots showing the earthquake in the Ljósufjöll volcano.
Earthquake activity in Ljósufjöll volcano system. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake swarm aligned it self with fault lines in the area. That is a change from earlier earthquake activity. Depth of the earthquake has also been decreasing. Its now around 14 km, from 17 to 23 km as it was before. Based on the earthquake activity, the amount of magma remains low and when the amount of magma is low. Its less likely to erupt. It rather is just stuck in the crust. However, if the amount of magma increases, that is going to increase the chance of an eruption in this area. This might take years, if not decades to happen as it stands now. Quick change seems unlikely at the writing of this article.

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Dyke intrusion into Bárðarbunga volcano

Today (14-January 2025) at 06:08 UTC an dyke intrusion started in Bárðarbunga volcano. This dyke intrusion lasted until around 09:00 UTC and might still not be over, even if the activity has stopped at the writing of this article. Largest earthquakes had the magnitude of Mw5,2 (USGS, EMSC). More than a dozen earthquakes with magnitude from Mw3,0 to Mw5,0 took place in this earthquake swarm.

Row of green stars in Bárðarbunga volcano caldera. Few small earthquakes are in Grímfjall volcano, an activity unrelated to this activity in Bárðarbunga volcano.
The earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

The main activity was in the western part of the caldera. According to the experts, this earthquake swarm looks close to what happened in Bárðarbunga volcano before it erupted in Gjálp (Wikipedia, Icelandic) in the year 1996. Then a earthquake swarm started like this, slowed down for few days before it increased again and the eruption happened. It is unclear what direction the dyke might move to, but most likely is south-west in the direction of Torfajökull volcano and Katla volcano. If that happens, such dyke activity might get those volcanoes upset or start and eruption in them.

I am going to post update as needed for Bárðarbunga volcano as this activity continues.