Category: Magma

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Earthquake in Torfajökull volcano

Today (20-Juli-2019) at 14:15 UTC an earthquake with the magnitude of 3,3 took place in Torfajökull volcano. This earthquake took place in south part of the caldera of Torfajökull volcano. This earthquake might have been felt by tourists in the area.


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

There has not been a lot of aftershocks following this earthquake for now. Last earthquake with magnitude above 3,0 took place on 12th of July and this means there might be a serious increase in earthquake activity in Torfajökull volcano. There are no obvious signs that Torfajökull volcano is about to erupt but it is also not known what is needed to make an eruption happen in Torfajökull volcano. Best action for now is to continue to monitor the activity in Torfajökull volcano.

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Increase in earthquakes in Katla volcano

Since yesterday (13-July-2019) there has been a increase in earthquake activity in Katla volcano. There are no signs of anything more happening than just this increase of earthquakes.


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

This increase in activity is something to keep a watch for but this has happened before without resulting in a eruption in Katla volcano. There have been reports on high volume of water level in the cauldrons in Mýrdalsjökull glacier. I don’t know if that is connected to this increase in earthquake activity. There is an expatiation that water is going to break out soon and the flood is going to be the largest since 2011. That might increase earthquake activity in Katla volcano once that happens. For now however nothing has been reported in the news of such a event.

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Magnitude 3,2 earthquake in Torfajökull volcano

Today (12-July-2019) at 17:16 UTC a magnitude 3,2 earthquake took place in Torfajökull volcano. This earthquake might have been felt by tourists in the area. This earthquake being felt has not yet been reported according to any news media.


The earthquake activity in Torfajökull volcano (green star). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This area of Torfajökull volcano has been having earthquake activity since January 27 when a magnitude 3,7 earthquake took place there. That activity was followed by a larger swarm of aftershocks than have so far happened. That might change without warning. This earthquake activity is interesting but I am not sure if it means anything, at least for now.

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Update on Bárðarbunga volcano cauldrons

According to latest news from Rúv on recent survey on Bárðarbunga volcano the cauldrons that appeared during the Holuhraun eruption (2014 – 2015) continue to grow in size and there has been increase in hydrothermal output in those cauldrons. Distance between the cauldrons is 800 meters and their depth is more than 100 meters. In one of the cauldrons a hot spring has been observed and strong sulphur comes from it. The water in the cauldrons no longer freezes due to heat. Rock has also been exposed that have never been seen before and have been under the glacier for thousands of years.

Video of the cauldrons can be seen here on Rúv News report. Everything is in Icelandic.

Sigkatlarnir í Bárðarbungu stækkað nokkuð (Rúv.is)

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Three strong earthquakes in Bárðarbunga volcano

Today (24-June-2019) at 13:09 UTC, 13:18 UTC and 13:55 UTC three strong earthquakes took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. The earthquake at 13:09 UTC has registered magnitude of mb4,5 at EMSC (information here). The earthquake at 13:55 UTC also has the magnitude of mb4,5 at EMSC (information here). Icelandic Met Office has the earthquake at 13:09 UTC at magnitude Mw3,3 and the earthquake at 13:55 UTC at magnitude Mw4,1. The earthquake at 13:18 UTC has a magnitude of Mw3,4. Smaller earthquakes have followed the largest earthquakes.


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

This earthquake activity is because of inflation in Bárðarbunga volcano. Since Bárðarbunga volcano continues to be in a inflation stage this earthquake activity did not result in a movement of magma or an eruption. Two of the earthquakes were in the regular location (central caldera and north-east part of the caldera) and the earthquake at 13:09 UTC took place outside the caldera and in north-west part of the volcano. This is slightly unusual based on earlier earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Last strong earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano was on 19-June-2019 and this a short time between strong earthquakes in Bárðarbunga volcano. This doesn’t seems to be unusual activity.

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Deep earthquake swarm south-east of Bárðarbunga volcano

Yesterday (19-June-2019) an earthquake swarm took place south-east of Bárðarbunga volcano. This area of Bárðarbunga volcano has been active since end of the eruption in February 2015 and possibly earlier than that. Last eruption in this area took place in with a start in February 1726 (+- 30 days) and ended in May 1726 (+- 30 days). More eruptions might have taken place at this location without being known or detected by people in the past.


The earthquake swarm south-east of Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

The depth of this earthquake swarm is considerable. Deepest earthquake recorded had a depth of 30,4 km and it is a possible that might be an error or poor location, other earthquakes recorded had a shallower depth. The crust in this location is up to 45 km thick according to measurements. It is not possible to know if this earthquake activity is going to result in a eruption. If an eruption happens it might happen without any warning and not of lot of earthquake activity before it happens.

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Earthquake with magnitude of 3,4 in Bárðarbunga volcano

After a long period of quiet an earthquake has happened in Bárðarbunga volcano. This earthquake had a magnitude of 3,4 and was in the usual place of central caldera of Bárðarbunga volcano. This earthquake had a smaller earthquake swarm activity happen few hours before it happened.


The earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano is marked by the green star. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is not possible to know if this means there is going to be any more earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Normally since everything started to quiet down, just one earthquake happens that is over magnitude 3,0 and then everything goes quiet again for several weeks to months. I do suspect that is going to be the pattern this time.

Due to how tired I am since I am working full workday (08:00 – 16:00) now my English grammar is all over the place in this article.

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Activity in Torfajökull volcano

Sometimes nature does something unexpected. This applies now to Torfajökull volcano. It seems that this earthquake activity started on 27-January-2019 without any warning. The article about that earthquake swarm can be found here.


The earthquake activity on 29-April-2019. A clear line of earthquake has appeared. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


Second earthquake swarm on 3-May-2019. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


The earthquake swarm on 4-June-2019. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

After Bárðarbunga volcano eruption in 2014 I set-up a new system (that I use for my self. No-one uses something something similar that I know of) to detect possible eruptions. Each volcano is different and there is also a risk of false detection. However I do think that based on latest activity that something is going on in Torfajökull volcano. If this results in a eruption is too early to say at the time of writing of this article. If this is on a path to an eruption there might not be any warning or much of a warning besides few magnitude 3,0 to 4,5 earthquakes in Torfajökull volcano. Last eruption in Torfajökull volcano was in 1477 (north of the caldera) so its behaviour before an eruption is unknown. Last time a eruption took place in west side of the caldera was in the year 1170 or around that year.

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Increased activity in Askja volcano

After more than a month of no noticeable earthquake activity in Iceland there is finally something new to report. It remains quiet in Iceland and most earthquake activity today is just small earthquakes in the magnitude range of 0,0 – 2,8.

This is only my view and might not be the same as views of professional scientists that monitor volcanoes as their job.

Askja volcano has started showing clear signs that an eruption might happen in near future. When that might happen is impossible to know, but given recent history this might happen in 18 to 48 months time from writing of this article. It might also be a considerable longer time until a eruption happens. Current sequence of activity started in 2011 so its already been ongoing for a considerable long period of time.


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

In recent months Askja volcano has been showing signs of increased earthquake activity. This is mostly small earthquakes with magnitude from 0,0 to 3,0 in magnitude. Located in small swarms that appear at random location within the volcano. There are quiet time period in this earthquake activity as is normal.

An eruption in Askja volcano is not a major risk to flight in Iceland or Europe. Since if an eruption happens it is going to be lava fissure eruption similar to what erupted in Bárðarbunga volcano in Holuhraun 2014 to 2015. That eruption might also have increased the speed of when Askja volcano is going to erupt. Since the dike intrusion from Bárðarbunga volcano almost started an eruption in Askja volcano, it was only two to three days from happening but stopped in its track before it happened. That might have put Askja volcano on a path of unsuitability that might now be starting to show in increased earthquake activity.

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Earthquake activity in Grímsvötn (Grímsfjall) and Þórðarhyrna (Thordarhyrna) volcanoes

Sorry for the late article. I’ve been busy in other project that involves taking a lot picture and putting them up on my Instagram that can be found here.

Two earthquake swarms have appeared that I am now keeping an eye out for. This is earthquake activity in Grímsvötn (Grímsfjöll) volcano and then in Þórðarhyrna volcano (Thordarhyrna). Last time Þórðarhyrna erupted was in the year 1902 and that was at the same time an eruption took place in Grímsvötn volcano. Over the last few months there has been increase in earthquake activity in Þórðarhyrna and Grímsvötn volcanoes. Its not completely symmetrical increase in earthquakes, but close to it as of writing of this article. Last time Þórðarhyrna erupted without an eruption in Grímsvötn volcano was in the year 1887 (15th August) to 1889 (?).


Earthquake activity in Grímsvötn and Þórðarhyrna volcanoes. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is going to be a serious problem if an eruption happens in Þórðarhyrna volcano because that volcano is completely covered with a glacier that is up to 200 meters thick or thicker. Other risk factor is that Grímsvötn volcano might erupt outside of the caldera resulting in glacier floods and other problems.

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