Category: Magma

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Update on the earthquake swarm in Fagradalsfjall mountain (Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano)

This is going to be a short update because the situation is constantly changing. This update is written at 12:07 UTC on 31-July-2022.

At the writing of this article at 11:32 UTC no eruption has started in Fagradalsfjall mountain or nearby area. Over 3000 earthquakes have been recorded in the last 24 hours in and around Fagradalsfjall mountain since the earthquake activity started yesterday (30-July-2022). There have not been any major changes in the crater in Fagradalsfjall mountain, it does seem to release more gas than normal. That is at least how it appears, if that is real or not I don’t know.

A lot of red dots on Reykjanes peninusla as the heavy earthquake swarm continues. A lot of green stars in a line close to Fagradalsfjall mountain, showing the location of the strongest earthqaukes
Heavy earthquake activity on Reykjanes peninsula. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
The time index of the earthquake activity for the last 48 hours. Since 12 yesterday, there have been a continuos earthquake activity. Now the dots are yellow, orange and red after the age of the earthquakes
The earthquake activity in the last 48 hours. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

I think this might be a stronger activity than last year, but if that is correct estimate is a wait and see. There has not been any major change in GPS location and that suggest that the area is as inflated as it possibly can be. It is impossible to know when the magma breaks up in the crust, but earthquake activity suggests that it has reached the depth of 2 km, meaning the magma has moved up a lot in the last 24 hours, since this earthquake activity started on the depth of 8 km yesterday.

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Massive earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano

I was busy today so I only just got home and this article is going to be a short one.

Today around (09:00 UTC) a small earthquake swarm took place in Fagradalsfjall mountain. At around 12:00 UTC an stronger and more massive earthquake swarm started in Fagradalsfjall mountain. At the writing of this article more than 700 earthquakes have been recorded and that is possibly an underestimate. At the writing of this article, largest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw4,4 and more than eighteen earthquakes with magnitude above Mw3,0 had taken place. Many of them were felt in Reykjavík and other nearby towns.

Dense earthquake swarm on Reykjanes pensinsula in Fagradalsfjalli mountain. Many green stars in a row in a swarm of red dots
A lot of earthquake activity in Reykjanes peninsula in Fagradalsfjall mountain. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
Horizontal gram of the earthquake mangitudes of the earthquake swarm in Fagradalsfjall mountain. Most earthquakes from 06:00 and then a sudden jump in activity at 12:00. Several earthquakes reach magnitude 4 line and a lot the magnitude 3 line.
The time overview of the earthquake activity in Reykjanes peninsula and Fagradalsfjalli mountain. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is difficult to know when a eruption is going to start. I find that the most likely outcome of this earthquake swarm. The magnitude of the harmonic tremor suggests that an eruption would be larger than last eruption in Fagradalsfjalli mountain. It is impossible to know if that is going to happen until an eruption starts. Currently the harmonic tremor was or is dropping. I do think it is going to increase again since that seems to be a pattern in this cases of magma intrusion until an eruption starts.

I’ll post more updates as this continues. Rúv and mbl.is have turned on their web cameras. They can be found on YouTube.

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Magnitude Mw4,2 earthquake in Katla volcano

At 22:57 UTC on 29-July-2022 an earthquake with magnitude of Mw4,2 took place in Katla volcano. Few smaller earthquakes have happened following this earthquake. Magnitude of this earthquake might still change, since earthquakes in Katla volcano are the type of earthquake it takes time to get correct magnitude.

Green star in Mýrdalsjökull glacier in Katla volcano. Red dots inside the caldera shows smaller earthquakes.
Earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

I don’t know what is going on. This might just be normal summer earthquake activity and Katla volcano sometimes has this stronger earthquakes without an eruption happening. This is going to be a little wait and see on what happens next in Katla volcano.

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Magnitude Mw4,9 earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano

Today (24-July-2022) at 13:45 UTC and earthquake with magnitude of Mw4,9 took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. Before this earthquake happened, an slightly smaller earthquake took place with magnitude of Mw4,4.

Two green stars on top of each other in Bárðarbunga volcano, that is in Vatnajökull glacier.
Green stars in Bárðarbunga volcano, that is in Vatnajökull glacier. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

According to news reports, last earthquake of this magnitude took place in January 2020. This earthquake activity is because of inflow of magma and inflation of Bárðarbunga volcano. This is not going to result in a eruption, this however shows that Bárðarbunga volcano is preparing for an eruption in next few decades or sooner.

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Earthquake swarm in Reykjanes volcano

This morning (12-July-2022) an earthquake swarm took place in Reykjanes volcano. This earthquake swarm has at the writing of this article around 30 earthquakes. Two largest earthquakes had a magnitude of Mw3,3 and Mw3,4. The second earthquake was felt in towns on Reykjanes peninsula.

Two green stars on the earthquake map from 10:00 clock this morning. Along with few red dots around the largest earthquakes
Earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes peninsula in the Reykjanes volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It has been rather quiet on the Reykjanes peninsula in last few months. There is always minor earthquake activity happening because of inflation of magma in this area. There has been lack of large earthquakes in recent months. I don’t know why that is. GPS data show that there has not been any notable inflation or deflation in Reykjanes volcano for the last few weeks. That translates into lack of earthquakes. If this earthquake swarm means that is changing is something to watch out for. Small earthquake swarm can mean change, what it means here is unclear. It is known that not every eruption starts with a big earthquake swarm in a volcano.

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Increase in earthquake activity in Katla volcano

Today (10-July-2022), earthquake activity in Katla volcano increased. Most of the earthquakes that have happened are above magnitude Mw2,0 and that is unusual. Largest earthquake at the writing of this article had a magnitude of Mw3,0.

Red dots and a green star in Katla volcano caldera on Icelandic Met Office map
The earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is unclear at the writing of this article what this means. Glacier flood from Mýrdalsjökull glacier following this earthquake activity is a possibility. Currently there are no signs that an eruption is about to start, that can change without warning. This might also just be normal summer activity in Katla volcano. At the writing of this article, the answer of what is going on is not clear.

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Strong earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano during the morning

Today (29-June-2022) at 08:16 UTC an earthquake with magnitude Mw3,5 took place in Bárðarbunga voclano. This is the second large earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano in June.

Green star on top of smaller red dots in Bárðarbunga volcano in Vatnajökull glacier
Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This is the same activity as before with Bárðarbunga volcano. That I did explain in the article on 27-June-2022 when that earthquake took place.

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Earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano during the night

Today (27-June-2022) at 05:49 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,3 took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. This is an earthquake because of continued inflation of Bárðarbunga volcano after the eruption between 2014 and 2015.

Green star and a red dot in Bárðarbunga volcano in Vatnajökull glacier
Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano in Vatnajökull glacier. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano is going to continue until the day the magma chamber is filled up again and that might take 10 to 70 years. There are going to be few earthquakes like this every year in Bárðarbunga volcano, with time the earthquakes are going to get fewer and instead get larger in magnitude.

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Earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,9 north-west of Grindavík

During the night (14-June-2022) an earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,9 took place north-west of Grindavík, this is west of mountain Þorbjörn. This earthquake was felt over all of Reykjanes peninsula. This is the strongest earthquake this is area since 15-May-2022.

Green star north of Grindavík town showing the location of the largest earthquake that happened during the night. A lot of smaller earthquakes shown on the map as yellow and blue dots
Earthquake activity north of Grindavík town. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

A strong aftershock activity followed this large earthquake, with most earthquakes having a magnitude between Mw2,1 to Mw2,9. This earthquake activity is happening in the area that has formed a dyke according to measurements of this area by Icelandic Met Office. As of writing of this article, there are no clear signs that an eruption is about to start.

– This article is shorter because I am currently on limited internet when it comes to amount of data that I can use.

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Strong earthquake in Nátthagakriki south-west of Fagradalsfjall volcano

Currently I can only post articles limited. This is going to be the situation until 5th of July when I get internet connection in Denmark.

Today (8-June-2022) at 05:04 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,0 took place in Nátthagakriki that is south-west of Fagradalsfjall volcano. It has been followed by smaller earthquakes with shallow depth of 2 km. It is unclear what is going on and no changes have been seen on GPS monitoring in the last few days for this area.

Orange, yellow and red dots from Grindavík to Fagradalsfjall volcano show the earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano
Earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano system and in Fagradalsfjall volcano (mountain). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Older data already shows that magma is flowing into an area of the crust below Fagradalsfjall volcano (mountain). When that might erupt is impossible to know. It is also not possible to know when next cycle of earthquakes and eruptions starts in Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja volcano system.

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