Category: Magma

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Sharp increase in earthquake activity in Tungnafellsjökull volcano

During the last few days there has been a sharp increase in earthquake activity in Tungnafellsjökull volcano. Since there has been no eruptions in the last 12.000 years it is not possible to know for sure what is going on. The earthquake activity suggests that this is a mixture of magma connected earthquakes and stress changes due to Bárðarbunga volcano changes. Making it nearly impossible to know for sure what is going on, at least for now anyway.


Tungnafellsjökull volcano is located north of Bárðarbunga volcano. It is marked by cluster of small earthquakes (red dots) on this image. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

What is different now, is that after a long period of quiet there was a sharp increase in earthquake activity in Tungnafellsjökull volcano. If past earthquake swarm activity is anything to go by I expect this earthquake activity to die out slowly and activity should go back to normal in Tungnafellsjökull volcano. That means no earthquake activity at all. I don’t think that anything has changed in that volcano, at least I don’t have any hard evidence of that being the case for the moment. That might change since lack of historical eruptions leaves a room for lot of speculations.

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Increasing earthquake activity in Katla volcano

Over the last few days there has been increasing earthquake activity in Katla volcano. The increase is slow, but this is a increase in activity. This holds in line with increased glacier melt during the Icelandic summer. What appears to be different now is the phase the increase is happening. At the moment the earthquake activity has not yet reached last year activity levels.


Earthquake activity in Katla volcano for the last 48 hours. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Largest earthquake in last 48 hours had the magnitude of 2,4 and took place in a minor earthquake swarm inside Katla volcano caldera. Since then there has been minor earthquake activity inside Katla volcano caldera, but compared to last year current activity is low. Other earthquakes that have happened have been smaller in magnitude.

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Minor earthquake activity in Hekla volcano

Today (09-June-2017) there has been earthquake activity in Hekla volcano. Largest earthquake only has the magnitude of 1,0 and greatest depth is 2,2 km.


Hekla is to the right on this image. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

At the moment there are no signs that this is going to lead to an eruption. That might change without warning. The source of this earthquake activity might be gas or steam activity in the crust in Hekla volcano, at least when it comes to shallower depth. At more depth it’s slightly difficult and increases the changes the earthquakes at those depth are created either by magma or pocket of gas breaking the crust.

At the moment Hekla volcano is not showing any signs that eruption is imminent.

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Deep earthquake activity in Trölladyngja (volcano)

Today (08-June-2017) there have been deep earthquakes in Trölladyngja (volcano). This earthquake swarm was shallower than last earthquake swarm that took place in Trölladyngja. Several months ago the earthquakes in Trölladyngja where happening at 28 km depth, but now they are at the depth range of 18,6 – 23,3 km, this means that the magma under Trölladyngja is migrating upwards at fast phase, a lot faster then I thought was possible. Earthquake swarm in November-2015 where slight off to the side, those earthquakes had the depth of 15 – 18 km as I wrote about here. Since November-2015 here has been other activity in Trölladyngja, but that has been in the form of one or two earthquakes so I have not written about it (I never bother with just one or two earthquakes at location due to the amount that happens daily in Iceland).


Earthquake activity in Trölladyngja (volcano), north-east of Bárðarbunga volcano fissure swarm. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Last eruption in Trölladyngja was according to GVP (under Bárðarbunga volcano history) was 7000 years ago. Since then nothing has happened. There has been a lot more eruption in Dyngjuháls area and that area is also having deep earthquakes. That area is also covered with ~200 meters of glacier. It remains to be seen what happens next in the Bárðarbunga volcano saga.

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Minor earthquake activity in Katla volcano

Today (03-June-2017) there has been a minor earthquake activity in Katla volcano. This was a minor earthquake activity and no earthquake did reach magnitude 2,0. Based on location and depth this activity suggests that magma was on the move inside Katla volcano. Most depth in this earthquake activity was 16,1 km.


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

It seems that for now the activity has quieted down. June is the start of earthquake season in Katla volcano and until December there is going to be increased earthquake activity taking place.

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Weekly earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano (1-June-2017)

Today (01-June-2017) a earthquake swarm took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. This earthquake swarm was in the regular location at north-east part of the caldera. Two earthquakes with magnitude 3,2 took place and one magnitude 3,6 earthquake happened. Other earthquakes in this activity where smaller in magnitude.


The earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano today (01-June-2017). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano is now getting close to weekly again. This suggest that magma inflow into the volcano is increasing again. What that means in the long term is unclear at this moment. Sometimes there is just one earthquake, but in most earthquake events there are now more than one earthquake with magnitude above 3,0.

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Strong earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano (27-May-2017)

Today (27-May-2017) at 09:36 UTC a magnitude 3,9 earthquake took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. This is a normal earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Depth of this earthquake activity is now around 7 km. Other earthquakes in this swarm where smaller in magnitude.


Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Green star shows the magnitude 3,9 earthquake. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Recent reports from Iceland Civil Disaster Management (Almannavarnir) and Icelandic Met Office there is considerable hydrothermal activity in the caldera and on its rim. Suggesting that Bárðarbunga volcano has not started to cool down after Holuhraun eruption. In the long run this means that there is a good chance that current eruption cycle is far from being over.

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Earthquake swarm in Kolbeinsey island

Yesterday (24-May-2017) and today (during the night of 25-May-2017) there was an earthquake swarm in Kolbeinsey island. Largest earthquakes had the magnitude of 3,6 (x2) and one magnitude 3,5 earthquake took place. Other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude. No harmonic tremor where detected during this activity, that does not rule out that this activity is due to dyke intrusion taking place in Kolbeinsey island. It just didn’t reach the surface this time. Kolbeinsey island is far away from the SIL network, with the closest station being in Grímsey island (~25 km) with other SIL station at ~60 km distance. If an eruption starts in Kolbeinsey Island, a harmonic tremor signal is going to appear in Grímsey island SIL station.


Green star mark the area where the earthquake swarm took place in Kolbeinsey island. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Last eruption in this area took place in the year 1755, but that eruption might not actually have been in Kolbeinsey Island, but in a other unnamed volcano north of it (where is not known). Last confirmed eruption in Kolbeinsey island took place in the year 1372, it was closer to land somewhere north-west of Grímsey island (suggesting that fissure swarm of Kolbeinsey island comes close to Grímsey island).

At the moment the activity has quieted down and no earthquakes are being detected by the SIL network.

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Strong earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano yesterday (20-May-2017)

Yesterday there was a strong earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano (GVP has new information about Bárðarbunga volcano). Two of the largest earthquakes had the magnitude of Mw3,9 and Mw3,8 other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude and around 10 earthquakes happened in Bárðarbunga volcano. This activity is also different from historical activity from 1970’s and towards 1994 (Gjálp eruption), when a magnitude 5 earthquake would happen in Bárðarbunga volcano once to twice a year. Current activity suggests that magma is inflating Bárðarbunga volcano faster than in the period between 1970’s and 1994. Why that is is not known to me.


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

Current change is that in recent weeks there are fewer earthquakes taking place in Bárðarbunga volcano, but when they happen they are often larger in magnitude and more than one large earthquake happens during the earthquake swarm.


The magnitude (Mw) 3,8 earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano as it appeared on my geophone in Böðvarshólar. This image is under Creative Commons Licence, see CC licence for more details.


The magnitude (Mw) 3,8 earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano as it appeared on my geophone in Heklubyggð. This image is under Creative Commons Licence, see CC licence for more details.


The magnitude (Mw) 3,9 earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano as it appeared on my geophone in Böðvarshólar. This image is under Creative Commons Licence, see CC licence for more details.


The magnitude (Mw) 3,9 earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano as it appeared on my geophone in Heklubyggð. This image is under Creative Commons Licence, see CC licence for more details.

According to reports on Global Volcanism Program the most magma collection is happening at the depth of 10 km (or around that depth), no clear or oblivious signs are that magma is collecting at shallower depth at the moment. If that is required for a eruption in Bárðarbunga volcano is not know at the moment, there is a possibility that magma might collect at 10 km depth and then pump out with a dike as was seen in the Holuhraun eruption (2014 – 2015). What has been confirmed is that magma is collecting under Bárðarbunga volcano and the volcano is inflating. This inflation is either going to stop or its going to continue until a new eruption happens.

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Strong earthquake swarm in Katla volcano today (19.04.2017)

Today (19.04.2017) a strong earthquake swarm started in Katla volcano. Largest earthquake in this swarm had magnitude of 3,0 and 3,1 other earthquakes that happened where smaller in magnitude. This is the strongest earthquake activity in Katla volcano since January 2017 when a magnitude 4,3 earthquake happened. No harmonic tremor was detected following this earthquake swarm.


The earthquake swarm in Katla volcano. Green stars show the magnitude 3,0 and 3,1 earthquakes. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

The earthquakes that I detected on my geophone in Heklubyggð show that the largest earthquakes was a mixed type of volcano earthquakes. This means that magma was responsible for today’s earthquake swarm. It was reported today in the news that this earthquake swarm took place away from all major hydrothermal areas inside Katla volcano caldera. The area of activity is close to eruption area of 1755 and a minor eruption close to current earthquake area in 1955 (didn’t break the glacier).


The main earthquake with the magnitude of 3,1 in Katla volcano. The trace is filtered at 4Hz due to high wind in the area. This image is released under Creative Commons Licence. Please see CC licence for more details.

This earthquake activity might just be a early signs of more activity to come. Since current pattern of activity has been going on since August-2016, with minor drop in activity between January to April. How this evolves depends on many factors that cannot be predicted due to lack properly documented earthquake history. Scientists know some details of Katla volcano eruptions behaviour, but those accounts are not fully accurate due to lack of knowledge at the time, currently the best documented eruption in Katla volcano is from 1918.

Article updated at 20:41 UTC. Correction made to the information about strongest earthquake. I recalled that detail wrongly.

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