Category: Magma

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Magnitude 3.2 earthquake on the Reykjanes peninsula

Today (01.09.2012) at 16:33 UTC there was an earthquake with the magnitude of ML3.2. The depth was 7.6 km. Following this earthquake there was an swarm of smaller earthquakes following the first earthquake. None of those have been above magnitude 2.0. The earthquake took place in the Reykjanes volcano most likely. But it appears tectonic in nature. Rather then volcanic.


The magnitude ML3.2 earthquake on the Reykjanes peninsula. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

It is hard to know for sure if this activity is going to continue. But since this earthquakes. Activity in this area has stopped. But it might resume at later time.

Icelandic news about this earthquake

Jarðskjálfti á Reykjanesskaga (Rúv.is)
3,2 stiga skjálfti við Grindavík (mbl.is)

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Earthquake swarm on Kolbeinsey Ridge yesterday (30.08.2012)

Yesterday (30.08.2012) there was an earthquake swarm on Kolbeinsey Ridge. But earthquakes have been taking place there for several weeks already. This earthquake activity seems to be growing in number of earthquakes swarms taking place. In the year 1999 there might have been an dike intrusion or submarine eruption south of Spar Fracture Zone (more details here). Last earthquake swarm that was noticed by the SIL network was exacly two months ago (30.06.2012). My coverage of that can be found here. But it was not in the same place. But that earthquake swarm was south of Kolbeinsey Island, not north of it as was the case yesterday.


The earthquake area in question are the yellow dots north of Iceland on this map from IMO. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

What happens next in this area in terms of earthquake activity, or possible volcano activity is hard to impossible to know. As it is really hard to monitor volcanoes and rift zones that are under 2 km deep ocean and good distance from the coast line. However if there is any major earthquake activity in this area. It is going to appear clearly on my geophone network and IMO SIL network in Iceland.

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Glacier flood confirmed from western Skaftárkatli cauldron

Today (30.08.2012) an glacier flood was confirmed from the western Skaftárkatli cauldron. This glacier flood is small as expected. But it did take several days longer to appear from Vatnajökull glacier then expected. Some hydro-thermal activity in Hamarinn volcano (Bárðarbunga volcano) seems to be currently taking place at the moment. But some harmonic tremor spikes have been taking place in the past two hours.


Harmonic tremor pulse can be seen at the end of this tremor plot from IMO. It only lasted for about 30 to 60 min. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.


Harmonic tremor pulse can be seen at the end of this tremor plot from IMO. It only lasted for about 30 to 60 min. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.


Harmonic tremor pulse can be seen at the end of this tremor plot from IMO. It only lasted for about 30 to 60 min. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

It might be that this harmonic tremor signals are coming from other volcano system then Hamarinn volcano. This type of activity has been seen before in Hamarinn volcano and follows glacier floods from it. Given the activity last year. I cannot rule out volcano activity taking place now in Hamarinn volcano. New episode of harmonic tremor is now starting in Hamarinn volcano. Based on early observations . It seems that current activity is behaving in similar manner as did happen in July 2011 when an minor eruption took place in Hamarinn volcano. If that is the case now remains to be seen. But it should be clear in few hours what is exactly going on in Hamarinn volcano following this glacier flood.

Icelandic news about this glacier flood

Skaftárhlaup kom úr katlinum – myndband (Rúv.is, video)
Hlaupið kom úr vestari katlinum (mbl.is)

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Deflation stops in Krýsuvík volcano

According to Rúv News today. Deflation has stopped in Krýsuvík volcano. But this is the latest chapter in inflation and deflation episodes that have been taking place in Krýsuvík volcano during the past three years. It is unclear what happens next in Krýsuvík volcano. But an new inflation episode should not be ruled out at this point.

Lat inflation episode started earlier this year (2012) and stopped in May. Then an deflation episode started. It stopped sometimes in August 2012. It is impossible to know for sure when an new inflation episode starts in Krýsuvík volcano. But it is my opinion that is going to be soon. But how soon exactly is impossible to know. Inflation episodes in Krýsuvík volcano have been followed by strong earthquakes swarms. So that are the signs of an inflation period having started in Krýsuvík volcano.

Icelandic news about this

Landsigið er hætt í Krýsuvík (Rúv.is)

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New earthquake swarm in Katla volcano

This morning at 07:03 UTC on 21. August 2012 an earthquake swarm started in Katla volcano. This earthquake swarm lasted for few minutes with the last earthquake taking place at 07:50 UTC. No harmonic tremor was detected following this earthquake swarm in Katla volcano. Update 1: The largest earthquake in this earthquake swarm had the magnitude of 2.6 at the depth of 0.1 km.


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

It is impossible to know for sure what this activity means. But this might just be normal autumn activity in Katla volcano. I am expecting more earthquake activity in Katla volcano in next few days to weeks.

Icelandic news about this earthquake activity

Skjálfti í Mýrdalsjökli (Rúv.is, Icelandic)
Jarðskjálfti upp á 3,1 stig í Mýrdalsjökli (Vísir.is, Icelandic)
3,1 stigs skjálfti í Mýrdalsjökli (mbl.is, Icelandic)

Blog post updated at 15:18 UTC on 21.08.2012. I have not yet fully recovered from the heat wave. I forgot the important information about this swarm. They have now been added.

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Earthquake in Katla volcano today (17.08.2012)

Today at 15:48 UTC there was an magnitude 3.8, at the depth of 0.1 km in Katla volcano. This earthquake took place on the caldera rim in Katla volcano. No major harmonic tremor was detected following this earthquake. However some harmonic tremor was detected. But it was minor. This might have been hydro-thermal-activity or magma on the move. It is impossible to know for sure what is the case now. This earthquake did appear clearly on my geophone network. Mostly on the geophone station at Skeiðflöt and Heklubyggð.


The location of the earthquake in Katla volcano. It was located on the edge of Katla volcano caldera. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.


Influence map of todays ML3.8 earthquake. This suggests that it was not felt in nearby populated areas. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.


Tremor plot that clearly shows the earthquake of today. The spikes are the earthquakes that have been taking place in Katla volcano or close by areas. This is Alftagrof SIL station. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.


This tremor plot shows some minor harmonic tremor following the earthquake in Katla volcano. The spikes show the earthquake from Katla volcano and areas close by. This is Austmannsbunga SIL station. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

It is impossible to know what this means exactly. But Katla volcano has been quiet since around middle of July. It remains to be seen if earthquake activity is picking up again or if this was just an single event.

Icelandic news about this earthquake

Jarðskjálfti í Mýrdalsjökli (Rúv.is, Icelandic)
Jarðskjálfti í Mýrdalsjökli (Vísir.is, Icelandic)
Jörð skalf við Austmannsbungu (mbl.is, Icelandic)

Blog post updated at 18.08.2012 at 11:51 UTC. Blog post title fixed for the future.

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Fish dying in Kleifarvatn lake due to increasing toxic and hydro-thermal activity

According to Icelandic news today. Fish has been dying in Kleifarvatn lake. But Kleifarvatn lake is inside Krísuvík volcano system. The exact reason why the fish is dying is not known at this point. But report suggests that large amount of fish has been seen dead already. I do not know how much fish there is in Kleifarvatn lake.

This suggests that hydro-thermal and hot spring activity in increasing in the lake. This also suggest that increased toxic levels (for the fish) are now changing in the lake. What toxins are at work here I do not know. But it can be assumed that it is what comes with magma.

For the past three to four years. Krísuvík volcano has been inflating and deflating at regular time intervals. What this means in unclear at present time. But this is signs of increased activity in the volcano anyway. Hydro-thermal and hot spring activity has also been increasing during this period. This has also been followed by increased earthquake activity in Krísuvík volcano when inflation takes place. What happens next is impossible to know for sure. But it is clear that Krísuvík volcano is still far away from erupting any time soon.

Icelandic news about this

Fiskar í Kleifarvatni sagðir í andarslitrum (Vísir.is)
Fiskar i Kleifarvatni sagðir drepast í stórum stíl (Vísir.is)

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Minor earthquake swarm in Katla volcano

This Sunday is not quiet when it comes to earthquake activity in Iceland. Earlier today a small earthquake swarm started in Katla volcano. The largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude 2.3 according to the automatic SIL system. The largest earthquake did appear clearly on Skeiðflöt and Heklubyggð geophone stations. But Skeiðflöt geophone station is closest to the area where this earthquake swarm was taking place.


Earthquake swarm in Katla volcano. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.


The earthquake trace on Skeiðflöt geophone station. This is filtered at 1Hz. I have not located this earthquake trace (no P and S wave markers). This image is released under Creative Commons Licence. Please see CC Licence page for more details.


The earthquake trace from Heklubyggð geophone station. This is filtered at 1Hz. I have not located this earthquake trace (no P and S wave markers). This image is released under Creative Commons Licence. Please see CC Licence page for more details.

It is impossible to know what happens next in Katla volcano. But it is monitored heavily, so if anything happens. It is going to show up almost in real time on the internet.

GPS monitoring of Ice cauldron on Mýrdalsjökull glacier

In the news on Rúv yesterday (07.07.2012) they did tell about real time GPS monitoring of ice cauldron in Mýrdalsjökull glacier. But it is hoped that with this real time GPS monitoring they can give out warning sooner when a ice cauldron empties it self of the water it holds.

The news about this can be found here on Rúv News in Icelandic.

GPS-tæki komið í sigketilinn (Rúv.is, Icelandic, video)

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Earthquake activity in Katla volcano and on SISZ

It has been quiet for the past weeks in Iceland. I do not know if that is changing. But this is the short update of what has been taking place in Iceland earthquake wise during this quiet period.

Katla volcano

Since Katla volcano earthquake spike in late April to middle of June. Sine then it has been rather quiet in June and what has passed of July. Today and yesterday there has been some earthquake activity in Katla volcano. But nothing like was seen in April to June.


Earthquake activity in Katla volcano during past few days. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

South Icelandic Seismic Zone (SISZ)

Intresting earthquake activity has been taking place in South Icelandic Seismic Zone for few days now. Currently the activity is on the northern end of the fault that broke in the year 2008. This is most likely just an earthquake swarm in the fault area that is continuing to adjust after the Mw6.3 earthquake in the year 2008.


Earthquake activity on SISZ during the past few days and hours. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

As for SISZ. This is just an earthquake activity. There is no volcano activity in this area of Iceland. But SISZ is a fault zone that moves N-S (W-E compared to Reykjavík). So with every major earthquake on SISZ, it is slowly moving south as the new rift zone (Iceland East rift zone) moves south at the same time. This is a slow progress. Takes millions of years and has been ongoing for million of years already.

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Continuous earthquake activity in El Hierro volcano

There have not been great changes in El Hierro volcano. Currently no eruption has taken place. There are also no signs of magma movement on tremor plots on seismometers stations that are located on El Hierro Island. The dike intrusion in El Hierro volcano is continues, but at slower rate then before. But that it is continuing means there is continued risk of an eruption where the earthquakes are currently taking place. Currently the rate of earthquake is around 3 to 8 earthquakes during the hour. Most of the earthquakes are around ML1.5 to 3.4 in magnitude. Please note that I am missing all earthquakes with the magnitude of ML0.0 and up to ML1.5. So there might well be a lot more earthquakes taking place in El Hierro volcano then I am seeing on IGN web page.


Current tremor plot of El Hierro volcano. The spikes are earthquakes in most cases. Copyright of this picture belongs to IGN.


Last 36 hours of earthquakes in El Hierro volcano. It shows clearly where magma has pushed it self into the crust. Creating inflation and earthquakes. The spikes are earthquakes in most cases. Copyright of this picture belongs to IGN.


Past 7 months of activity in El Hierro volcano. This map shows well how magma has slowly been injecting it self into El Hierro volcano during the past few months. Some of the earthquakes there are also just tectonic earthquakes, due to stress changes that injection of magma creates in the crust. The spikes are earthquakes in most cases. Copyright of this picture belongs to IGN.

According to official reports. The inflation of El Hierro volcano is around 10 cm according to official reports, or around that. I am having hard time finding the official news reports on the inflation in El Hierro volcano at current time. For the moment, the current situation is stable for the moment. But when that might change is impossible to know for sure. But there is magma inside El Hierro volcano, so there is an increased risk of some of that magma finding it’s way to the surface and erupting. But that might be out in the ocean as last time, or on land. It is impossible to know that for sure until an eruption starts. For the moment, nothing can be done the to watch and monitor the current situation in El Hierro volcano.

Other

It seems that Icelandic volcanoes and fault zones are on some type of summer vacation for the moment. So I am covering other things while the quiet period in Iceland is currently ongoing.