Category: Magma

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Earthquake activity continues in Þorbjörn area

Today (27-January-2020) at 18:53 UTC an earthquake with the magnitude of Mw3,1 took place just north of the town of Grindavík. This earthquake activity is in a volcano inside the volcano system of Reykjanes in its fissure swarm.


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

More earthquake activity can be expected in this area for next few days to months. Current inflation is around 4mm/day and shows no signs of slowing down according the news and GPS measurements.

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The volcano Reykjanes (Þorbjörn) information and history

The current inflation that is now happening on the Reykjanes peninsula below the tuff mountain called Þorbjörn is in a volcano system called Reykjanes in the Global Volcanism Program. Last eruption is registered having taken place in Mars 1831 at Eldeyjarboði but given the location and distance on the Reykjanes ridge that area possibly is part of a different volcano system and is not connected to the Reykjanes volcano system that now has become active. Part of this volcano is below sea level. Maps of this area can be found here and here (image). Last eruption in this system was maybe in the year 1583. There is a possibility that the eruption in the year 1583 belongs to a different volcano system that is completely under the ocean. Last confirmed eruption in this system was in the year 1240 (780 years). More information on the volcano can also be found here.

The volcano that is now active doesn’t have any special name so for clarity I am just going to call it Þorbjörn. This volcano is rather large and erupts in the form of fissure vents. Þorbjörn is inside a fissure zone of the volcano called Reykjanes and that volcano might be the main volcano in this system and it can happen that both volcanoes can erupt at the same time. I don’t know if that is going to happen this time around but there has been a earthquake activity in the main volcano called Reykjanes and part of it is below ocean and eruption that would result in ash cloud with limited distribution. This earthquake activity suggests that both volcanoes are now getting active. The volcano called Reykjanes is less dangerous because its out in the ocean and not close to any populated area. Þorbjörn is close to populated area and important infrastructure on the Reykjanes peninsula.

I have written about this area earthquake activity in last few weeks here (28-July-2017), here (15-December-2019), here (17-December-2019), here (19-December-2019), here (20-December-2019), here (22-January-2020). I do think this is all of the earthquake activity in this area since July 2017 until January 2020.


Current activity in Þorbjörn and nearby area. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

I am going to continue to monitor this situation and continue to update as best I can. Since I am currently moving back to Iceland delays may happen in the days when I move (middle of February) back to Iceland.

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Uncertainty level declared because of magma intrusion in mountain named Þorbjörn on Reykjanes peninsula

Icelandic Met Office has declared uncertainty level because of inflation in the mountain called Þorbjörn (no Global Volcanism Profile) that started on 21st of January 2020. This inflation has been followed by earthquake swarm activity that is ongoing at the writing of this article. The inflation has been 2cm today (26-January-2020) and the estimated volume of magma is 0,001 km3 and that is possibly too small to erupt at the moment. The inflation is 3mm to 4mm a day at the writing of this article. This active area is just north of the village of Grindavík.


The active area (red dots). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

I’ll update this as best I can but I am currently in the progress of moving back to Iceland. But I don’t expect anything major to happen just yet. At least I hope that is what is going to happen. I plan on having my geophone network back by early March when I can fix the rollover problem the GPS clocks I am using are having.

Icelandic Met Office article in Icelandic

Möguleg kvikusöfnun undir svæðinu við fjallið Þorbjörn á Reykjanesi (vedur.is, Images)

English article by Icelandic Met Office

Possible magma accumulation beneath Mt. Thorbjorn on Reykjanes peninsula

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Earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano

Today (26-January-2020) at 14:25 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,7 in Bárðarbunga volcano. This was a single earthquake but that does not rule out a second earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano is going to happen in next few hours. That might not happen since a second earthquake doesn’t always appear.


Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano today (26-January-2020). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake shows that Bárðarbunga volcano continues to inflate at fast speed. When next eruption is going to happen is impossible to know but shortest time between eruptions in Bárðarbunga volcano is just 3 to 8 years.

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Magnitude Mw4,8 earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano

I hope everyone had good Christmas and good new year 2020.

Today (05-January-2020) at 04:32 UTC an earthquake with magnitude Mw4,8 took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. Second earthquake with a magnitude of Mw4,0 took place at 04:56 UTC. Other earthquakes that took place were smaller in magnitude. This are among the strongest earthquakes in Bárðarbunga volcano since the end of the eruption in Holuhraun in 2015.


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

This earthquake activity was at the same location as most of this earthquakes happen in Bárðarbunga volcano. At the north-east part of the Bárðarbunga volcano top caldera. This is also close to the locations were the hydrothermal activity at this location has melted though the glacier.

I was unable to record this earthquake because of GPS time rollover error in my GPS clocks that I use and it affects the software I use and time stamps on the recorded events. I need to do a software update on the GPS clocks before I can use them again. I am going to do that in late February or early March. I need to update every GPS clock that I own.

Moving back to Iceland

It has turned out that my income gap is because I am living in Denmark and there’s nothing I can do about it (lowering costs didn’t work as I hoped). Because of this I am moving back to Iceland permanently. I am going to stay in Europe (Germany?) for time to time but I am going to be permanently living in Iceland because of this.

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Magnitude Mw3,8 earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano (01-December-2019)

On 01-December-2019 a earthquake swarm took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. There were two magnitude Mw3,0 earthquake in this earthquake swarm and one magnitude Mw3,8 earthquake. Few smaller earthquakes also took place in this earthquake swarm.


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

This earthquake activity is now normal for Bárðarbunga volcano and has been going on since the end of the Holuhraun eruption in February 2015. More of this earthquake activity can be expected to happen without any warning. This does not mean that an eruption is on the way in any imminent future.

I am sorry for how late this article this.

Donations (late update)

If you want to support my work it is possible to do so with PayPal donations with the donation button. If you want to send me a direct donation it is possible to do so on the email address jonfr3600@8930a1.talbot.shared.1984.is, if you have older email address please update your email address for this type of donation. Please contact me at volcano@8930a1.talbot.shared.1984.is for bank information but in general that should not be required since PayPal is good enough for this for most people. Thanks for the support. 🙂

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Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano

The regular earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano continued today (24-November-2019) early this morning. Two earthquakes larger than Mw3,0 took place. The first earthquake had a magnitude of Mw4,0 at 04:22 UTC and the second earthquake had a magnitude of 04:28 UTC and had a magnitude of Mw3,5. This earthquake activity happens due to inflation of Bárðarbunga volcano. This is a regular earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano and is it is going to be like this for the next 10 to 30 years. With occasional magnitude Mw5,0 or larger earthquake happening in that time period.


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

This earthquake activity is not going to result in a eruption of Bárðarbunga volcano since this is too little earthquake activity for that too happen. This earthquake activity shows that an eruption is going to happen in next few years but when that happens is impossible to know.

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Update four on earthquake activity in Askja volcano

Yesterday (13-November-2019) has been a little quieter in the earthquake swarm in Askja volcano. Largest earthquake in the last 24 hours had a magnitude of Mw3,1. Over the last 48 hours around 500 earthquakes have happened in Askja volcano. There was a peak in activity after the magntidue Mw3,1 earthquake but it slowed down soon after that. Depth of this earthquake swarm has changed slightly, deepest points are now at 7 to 8 km and that might be a problem since magma is possibly at 10 to 15 km depth in this location. If this is a magma that can erupt I don’t know, if there is magma at this location it might also be a magma that’s too cold to erupt.


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

The earthquakes continue to be rift-zone earthquakes along fault lines and there is as of the writing of this article no signs of magma movement in Askja volcano as a result of this earthquake swarm. This earthquake swarm has been going on for a week from today (14-November-2019). It is a question if this earthquake swarm is over or if this is just a quiet time in this earthquake swarm activity. It is known in Askja volcano eruption history that eruption in Askja volcano and nearby fissure swarms start with long period of earthquake activity that continues to grow over time. This can be read in this studies of earlier eruptions, study 1961 eruption, study 1875 eruption. Current situation continues to keep monitoring what is going on.

Science article on earthquake activity in Askja (added link)

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Update three on earthquake activity in Askja volcano

This is a short update on the earthquake activity in Askja volcano.

Earthquake activity has now moved to a new phase in Askja volcano. This appears to be a rifting event taking place in Askja volcano. They do often result in a fissure eruption of lava and sometimes short lived volcano ash event. That might not happen and as of writing of this article no magma movement has been seen on nearby SIL stations. That might change without warning at any time.


Earthquake activity in Askja volcano as of 23:25 UTC on 12-November-2019. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


Density of the earthquake swarm has increased from earlier as is clear here. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is not possible to know what happens next in this earthquake activity in Askja volcano. The only thing that can be done is to wait and see what happens.

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Update two on the Askja volcano earthquake swarm

The earthquake activity in Askja volcano continues with no clear signs that it is about to stop. Since midnight around 200 earthquakes have happened at the writing of this article. Icelandic Met Office is currently holding a meeting about this earthquake swarm in Askja volcano.


The earthquake swarm in Askja volcano as of 12-November-2019 at 11:55 UTC. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There seems to be a pulse activity in this earthquake swarm. Activity drops for several hours before increasing again and then slows down again. That is possible clue that this earthquake swarm has its origins in magma activity that has not yet reached shallow levels of the crust. There is no deep earthquake activity in this swarm and that might not happen. What exactly is going on in Askja volcano remains unclear at the writing for this article.

There are now two possibles of what might happen next

  1. Earthquake activity continues until an eruption happens. This would be a lava eruption with no or limited amount of volcano ash happening in the process.
  2. This earthquake swarm continues until it just stops and no eruption happens.

What happens is impossible to know for sure since this earthquake activity is a mystery as of the writing of this article.

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Please remember to support my work with donations. They help me keep this website running and to buy food and the other normal stuff that people do. Writing is a hard work and I spend a lot of time just monitoring what is going on in Iceland trying to figure out what is happening. Thanks for the support. 🙂