Category: Magma

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Earthquake activity increases in Reykjanes and Krýsuvík volcanoes

Since 15-October-2020 there has been a slow increase in small earthquakes in Reykjanes and Krýsuvík volcanoes. This earthquake activity has been followed by changes in GPS location. The GPS data can be viewed at Reykjanes CGPS website. All the earthquakes at the writing of this article are small in magnitude. Last few weeks have been quiet in Reykjanes and Krýsuvík volcanoes and that is normal for this type of volcanoes.


The earthquake activity in the volcanoes Reykjanes and Krýsuvík. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is not possible to know how this is going to develop since what happens depends on the amount of magma moving and what that does. It is unclear if this is inflation or deflation event taking place. It might take few days to see what that is.

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Grímsfjall volcano moved to yellow warning for air traffic

Today (30-September-2020) Icelandic Met Office moved Grímsfjall volcano to a yellow warning status for air traffic. This strongly suggests that Icelandic Met Office thinks that an eruption might happen in next few days to weeks. It is expected that an eruption might happen if a glacier flood happens from Grímsvötn glacier lake that is inside Grímsfjall volcano caldera.


Current status of Grímsfjöll volcano is yellow. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is difficult to know if this is going to be a large or small eruption until it happens. Best thing to do right now is to keep monitoring Grímsfjall volcano activity to see if anything is going on. Currently everything is quiet.

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Increasing hydrothermal activity and ground heat in Bárðarbunga volcano

It was reported in the news in Iceland few days ago that ground heat and hydrothermal activity in Bárðarbunga volcano is increasing and has been doing so for at least few months. Steam has been observed according to the news coming from one of the cauldron that is now in the rim of Bárðarbunga volcano caldera rim. It has also been observed that few areas that have been active for a long time are now expanding in size.

Current risk is large glacier floods from Bárðarbunga volcano as the heat is melting large amounts of glacier in this area and possible damage and danger from those glacier floods. This increase in ground heat suggests that magma is slowly pushing its way up in the caldera rim of Bárðarbunga volcano. It is not possible to know if this is the case in the caldera since that is full of glacier that is ~600 meters thick at the most deepest end. If it wasn’t for Vatnajökull glacier and the pressure it puts in Bárðarbunga volcano there would already be an eruption going on there today. It is only when the magma gets above the pressure of the glacier an eruption can happen and in the eruption of 2014 and 2015 that didn’t happen as the magma found a easier way out by forming a dyke that travelled ~46 km away from the main volcano before an eruption started. This option for the magma might be closed now since dyke like the that formed in 2014 and 2015 eruption normally only erupt once after the magma flow stops.

Icelandic News

Jarðhiti í Bárðarbungu sífellt að aukast (Rúv.is)

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Hard drive problems

I am currently dealing with failing hard drives in my main computer and that makes it really slow. This might slow down my response until Friday when I finally get replacement hard drives. I also had hard drive problems with my main earthquake computer but that issue has been resolved with new hard drives.

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Strong earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano

Today (27-September-2020) at 00:06 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw4,8 took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. This earthquake is the strongest earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano since April 2020 according to Icelandic Met Office.


Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office. Used with permission.

This earthquake activity suggests that magma might be pushing up at this location but no data for now confirms this. This might just be the caldera pushing up after it dropped 60 meters in 2014 to 2015 eruption of Bárðarbunga volcano. There are no signs of possible eruption and after this earthquake took place there has only been minor earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano and nearby areas.

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Earthquake activity in Hamarinn volcano (Loki-Fögrufjöll)

During the night (15-September-2020) an earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,1 took place in Hamarinn volcano (Loki-Fögrufjöll) (part of Bárðarbunga volcano). This earthquake is part of an activity that has been happening in this location for more than a week. It’s unclear what this activity means but it has been recorded that in 2011 few weeks before a minor eruption in volcano there was an increase in earthquake activity before the eruption took place. This earthquake activity is ongoing at the writing of this article.


The earthquake activity in Hamarinn volcano. Green star shows the main active area. Image used with permission and copyright belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

When this earthquake took place there was no change in harmonic tremor on nearby SIL stations. An eruption in Hamarinn volcano don’t seem to require a lot of earthquake activity before it starts. I don’t know why that is but that was the experience in the minor eruption in July 2011.

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Earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík volcano Saturday 12th September 2020

On Saturday 12th September 2020 an earthquake swarm started in Krýsuvík volcano. This earthquake swarm did only go on for few hours before it stopped for now.


Earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano. Image used with permission and copyright of image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Largest earthquake in this swarm had magnitude Mw3,0 and all other earthquakes where smaller. The magnitude Mw3,0 earthquake was felt in Reykjavík.

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Google Adsense

To increase my income from this website I am adding Google Adsense to it after July 2022 when I have moved back to Denmark. Doing this allows me to have income in Denmark in Danish Krona and have more stable income from my work. It is not worth the effort to get paid to Iceland just to move to Denmark, it also complicates few things for me. The other way is simpler.

Upgrades and changes

I am currently working on upgrades and changes. That means little bit of testing here and there. I try to keep it minimal as possible but it can’t be fully avoided.

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Earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík volcano

Yesterday (7-September-2020) an earthquake swarm took place in Krýsuvík volcano early morning. The largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw3,3 and the second largest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw2,8. Other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude.


The earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík volcano. Image used with permission and copyright belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity is part of the inflation in volcanoes in the volcanoes in this area because of influx of magma at 3 km to 8 km depth. While no eruption has not yet happened that is the most likely outcome of all of this activity. When this enters the eruption phase is something that cannot be predicted.

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Magnitude Mw3,4 earthquake in Reykjanes volcano

Today (3-September-2020) at 10:57 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,4 took place in Reykjanes volcano. This earthquake is part of the ongoing earthquake activity that started in this area in January 2020 and has been going on since then. This earthquake activity happens in waves and there are quiet period between high activity.


Earthquake activity in Reykjanes volcano. Image used with permission and copyright belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There continues to be high risk for stronger earthquake activity in this area because of magma injections into the crust at 3 to 8 km depth in this area. Earthquake activity is ongoing in Reykjanes volcano.

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Ongoing earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík and Reykjanes volcanoes boundaries

Yesterday (29-August-2020) an ongoing earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík volcano or in the Reykjanes volcano increased. I am unclear what volcano system is responsible for this earthquake activity. It might be both volcanoes and if that is case it complicates matter.


The earthquake activity yesterday close to Krýsuvík or in Krýsuvík volcano. Used with permission and copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw3,6 at 19:06 UTC and the second largest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw3,4 at 16:23 UTC. Two earthquakes with magnitude MW3,0 also took place. The strongest earthquakes where felt in Reykjavík and other nearby towns. This earthquake activity is part of the activity that started in January in Reykjanes volcano and has been ongoing since then. Its has moved a little east in recent months and I am unclear on why that is exactly. There are no clear signs that magma is moving at the writing of this article to the surface.

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It is still possible to support my work with donations but I have moved the donations buttons to the Donation page for more easy access and to make the front page better. I am still working on new setup and changes to the website that are going to be implemented slowly over the next few months. Thanks for the support. 🙂

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Strong earthquake swarm east of Fagradalsfjall mountain

Today (26-August-2020) a strong earthquake swarm took place east of Fagradalsfjall mountain. Strongest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw4,2 and second strongest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw3,7. Three other earthquakes with magnitude above Mw3,0 took place in this earthquake swarm. At the writing of this article total of 350 earthquakes have taken place.


The earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes peninsula in Reykjanes volcano. Image used with permission and copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake swam seems to be at the most eastern end of a volcano called Reykjanes. This activity happens in swarms and at the writing of this article a new activity has started. It is not possible to know how long this activity is going to last. At the writing of this article there are no signs that magma has started to find a path to the surface and current data suggest this earthquake activity only to be tectonic earthquake currently. GPS data continues to suggest injection of magma into the crust at 8 km to 3 km depth in Reykjanes volcano. This injection of magma has been going on since January-2020.