Category: Magma

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Earthquake swarm activity increases in Reykjanes ridge volcano

Since early this morning (18-May-2020) earthquake activity has been increasing in Reykjanes volcano. For the last several weeks there has been a deflation taking place in the volcanoes from Krýsuvík (possibly) and to Reykjanes volcano. Such event is to be expected with a rift volcanoes (see Krafla volcano 1980 – 1984 eruptions).


Current earthquake activity in the Reykjanes volcano and Þorbjörn mountain. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Other than this minor activity it has been quiet in Iceland for the last month. This happens regularly in Iceland. This quiet time might last a while longer.

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Strong earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano during the night

During the night of 20-April 2020 a magnitude Mw4,8 earthquake took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. This activity is normal and this is the strongest earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano since January 2020 when a magnitude Mw4,8 earthquake took place. Article on that earthquake can be found here.


The earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This is how the earthquake was recorded on my geophones.


The earthquake on my first Hvammstangi geophone station.


The earthquake on my second Hvammstangi geophone station.

The traces show that there was a lot of ground displacement in this earthquake. This is due to the inflation taking place in Bárðarbunga volcano and the fact Bárðarbunga volcano collapsed during the 2014 – 2015 eruption in Holuhraun.

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Earthquake warning for Reykjanes/Reykjavík

Today (11-April 2020) an earthquake swarm took place north of Grindavík town. Largest earthquake in today’s swarm had a magnitude of Mw3,2. Other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude.


The earthquake activity on the Reykjanes peninsula today. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Icelandic Met Office has issued a earthquake warning for Reykjanes and Reykjavík area. The warning is that magnitude Mw6,3 earthquake might hit this area soon but it is not possible to give any better time frame than this. The reason for this warning is that the magma injection is now changing the stress levels in the crust and is pressuring nearby faults that might break without much warning.

Icelandic News about the earthquake warning

Fólk þarf að búa sig undir skjálfta nærri sex að stærð (Rúv.is)

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Small earthquake swarm on Reykjanes ridge

Today (4-April 2020) an earthquake swarm took place close to Eldey island. Largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw3,3 other earthquakes in this swarm were smaller in magnitude. This earthquake is in the volcano Reykjanes.


Earthquake activity on the Reykjanes peninsula today in the volcano Reykjanes. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity seems to be part of the inflation that is now happening in this part of the Reykjanes peninsula and now part of the Reykjanes ridge. This is going to continue for a while and I am not going to write about all of this earthquake activity since that would be pointless.

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Over 6000 earthquakes recorded on Reykjanes peninsula since start of January 2020

Latest news from Icelandic Met Office is that more than 6000 earthquakes have been recorded since start of January 2020 in the Reykjanes volcano and this is the most earthquake activity recorded in this area since start of digital earthquake records in 1991. Three dyke intrusion have been identified by Icelandic Met Office and it is my view that the fourth (and fifth?) might be out in the ocean close to Eldey island, due to no GPS measurements being available out in the ocean any dyke intrusion at that location is going to go undetected for a while.


The earthquake activity north of Grindavík town. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

In recent days there have been two earthquakes with magnitude Mw3,0 and Mw3,1. This earthquake activity is going to continue in this area. Inflation as measured so far has reached 60mm to 70mm. Inflation is taking place over a large area and this has started opening up old fissures and changing the pressure and strain in the crust in this area. Resulting in earthquakes as faults move because of the inflation.

Icelandic Met Office press releases

More research is needed to decipher the on-going activity at the Reykjanes Peninsula as a whole
Vísbendingar um nýtt kvikuinnskot á Reykjanesi (Icelandic, picture)

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Two strong earthquakes in Reykjanes volcano

Today (25-March 2020) two earthquakes happened in Reykjanes volcano. Largest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw3,1 and the second earthquake had a magnitude of Mw3,9. Other earthquakes were smaller in magnitude but this earthquake swarm seems to be over for now but activity in this area is ongoing and there is no signs that activity is going to stop in this area.


Earthquake activity on the Reykjanes peninsula in the volcano Reykjanes. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Inflation is ongoing in the area around Grindavík village and even if it is slower than in January it has not stopped. This explains the earthquake activity in this area. Activity happens in swarms and it is quiet between swarms. What is interesting is that time between swarms seems to be getting shorter and magnitude of some of the earthquakes seems to be getting stronger. I am not sure why that is.

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Earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík volcano

Yesterday (20-March 2020) an earthquake swarm took place in Krýsuvík volcano. Largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw3,0. This earthquake swarm has stopped as of writing of this article. It is unclear if this earthquake swarm is due to magma activity or just tectonic stresses.


Earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There have been earlier earthquake swarm in this same area in recent weeks after the activity at Reykjanes volcano started earlier this year. If that is connected remains a question.

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Increase in earthquake in Þorbjörn mountain (Reykjanes volcano)

Yesterday (19-March 2020) an earthquake swarm took place close to Grindavík town (Þorbjörn mountain) in Reykjanes volcano. This earthquake swarm was has several hundred earthquakes and many of the earthquakes were at shallow depth and it is not understood why that was. Largest earthquakes in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw3,0, Mw3,2 and Mw3,3. Other earthquakes that took place were smaller in magnitude. The earthquake swarm seems to be over for now but this activity happens in swarms and how long and how strong each swarm is different.


The earthquake activity north of Grindavík town. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Inflation continues in this area and that is the reason why this earthquake swarm activity happens. What seems to be happening now is that more activity is happening and it is happening over a wider area. At the writing of this article there are no signs that magma is finding a path to the surface.

Geophone website

I have now managed to make my geophone network active again. I had to move the software from (operating system) from Windows to Debian Linux because Windows 10 just doesn’t work for this. In the future I have to move my main computer to Debian Linux but it is going to be a little while until that happens because I need to backup data before I can change operating systems on my main earthquake computer (along with other problems that I need to resolve before this can happen). The geophones that I have up and running can be viewed here.

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Earthquake with magnitude Mw4,2 in Reykjanes volcano

Today (18-March 2020) at 10:32 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw4,2 took place in Reykjanes volcano. This earthquake started a swarm of earthquake that is ongoing at the writing of this article.


The earthquake activity in Reykjanes volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Earthquake activity is increasing again in this area of Reykjanes peninsula as inflation has resumed but at lower rate then before. That might change as the time goes on. I was unable to record this earthquakes because I am having a major problems with my earthquake computers and Microsoft has disabled activation of Windows XP and Windows Vista operating systems so I can’t use them. I am working on a solution but it going to take a little time to implement properly.

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Earthquake with magnitude Mw5,2 in Þorbjörn mountain (Fagradalsfjall mountain)

Today (12. March 2020) at 10:25 an earthquake with the magnitude of Mw5,2 took place in Fagradallsfjall mountain east of Grindavík town (Reykjanes volcano). This earthquake was felt over a wide area. This earthquake appears to be directly connected to the inflation that has been taking place in this area.


The Mw5,2 earthquake in Fagradallsfjalli mountain. This image is free to use if sourced is mentioned.


All the directions of the Mw5,2 earthquake in Fagradallsfjall mountain. This image is free to use if sourced is mentioned.


The earthquake swarm following the Mw5,2 earthquake in Fagradalsfjall mountain. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


The earthquake swarm following the Mw5,2 earthquake in Fagradalsfjall mountain. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There is a risk of strong earthquakes in this area and it is going to be a while until it starts to quiet down again. There is at the writing of this article no signs of magma moving towards the crust. It is unclear if that is going to change but no such signs have been detected at the writing of this article.

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