Category: Bárðarbunga

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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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Strong earthquake swarm in Bárðarbunga volcano (not high number of earthquakes)

This morning (4-March-2019) a strong earthquake swarm took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. Largest earthquake had a magnitude of 4,1 (at 05:52 UTC), second largest had a magnitude of 3,8 (at 05:46 UTC) and the third largest earthquake had a magnitude of 3,3 (at 06:03 UTC). Other earthquakes were smaller in magnitude.


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

Total of eight earthquakes where recorded in this swarm. This earthquake swarm is slightly unusual because its only been two weeks since a magnitude 4,2 earthquake took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. This are inflation related earthquakes, since Bárðarbunga volcano has been inflating since end of the eruption in Holuhraun in February 2015. This process is going to continue until next eruption happens in Bárðarbunga volcano system. This process can be at shortest be 1 year and at the longest this can take 104 years. I base this on Bárðarbunga volcano known eruption history. Details can be found in Global Volcanism Program information website about Bárðarbunga volcano.

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Earthquake with magnitude (Mw) 4,2 in Bárðarbunga volcano

Yesterday (23-February-2019) a earthquake with the magnitude Mw 4,2 took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. This earthquake was in the north-east location of the caldera. This is the location were most earthquakes happen in Bárðarbunga volcano. There appears to have been a foreshock this time with a magnitude of 2,7.


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

I can’t provide wave image of the earthquake since my main earthquake computer is broken and I can’t afford for the moment getting a new one (+Windows 10 Pro licence). I hope to get a new computer this summer for this task along with switching to Raspberry Shake seismometer.

EMSC/USGS show the magnitude as 4,5 this happens due to difference method used for calculate the magnitude of this earthquake.

Update

I did manage to get the earthquake trace data from the remote station that handles it.


The earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano. This image is under Creative Commons licence. Please see CC Licence page for more details.

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Article updated on 25-February-2019. Image of the earthquake added.

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Magnitude 4,8 earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano

Last night (28-December-2018) there was a strong earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Largest earthquake was at 01:16 UTC and had a magnitude of 4,8. Third largest earthquake happened at 01:20 UTC and had a magnitude of 3,5 second largest earthquake happened at 01:38 UTC and had a magnitude of 3,7. Last earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of 2,8 and happened at 01:46 UTC. This earthquake swarm has now ended.


Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano (green stars). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity happens since Bárðarbunga volcano is inflating and has been doing so since April or May 2015. The rate of earthquakes that are larger than 4,5 seems to be increasing (it takes a few more months to know for sure). This is the second or the third earthquake that is larger than 4,5 in Bárðarbunga volcano in 2018. It would not surprise me if an earthquake with magnitude of 5,5 or larger start to happen in few months to years time. There are no signs that this earthquake activity is going to result in a eruption from Bárðarbunga volcano.

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Update for donations

If you donate directly with a bank. Please update your information. From now on all the donations that I get with a bank transfer go to my Icelandic bank. This is not going to change when I move from Iceland. New bank information can be found here on the donation website.

Article updated on 29-December-2018. Updated information about direct bank donations.

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Earthquake swarm in Bárðarbunga volcano

This morning (17-December-2018) an earthquake swarm started in Bárðarbunga volcano. Largest earthquake in this swarm had magnitude of 3,6. Other earthquakes have been smaller in magnitude.


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

This earthquake activity is a sign that Bárðarbunga volcano has not slowed down on inflating. I don’t know how much the inflation is since I have not seen GPS data for Bárðarbunga volcano in a while.

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Earthquake in Hamarinn volcano

Today (23-November-2018) at 21:35 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of 3,5 took place in Hamarinn volcano (No GVP, is under Bárðarbunga volcano, also known as Loki-Fögrufjöll). Last unconfirmed eruption was in July 2011 and lasted ~12 hours. It resulted in a glacier flood and did not break the glacier. That eruption was only visible on harmonic tremor measurements.


Hamarinn volcano activity (green star to the left). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is possible that more activity is on the way, before the eruption in 2011 there was a increase in earthquakes in Hamarinn volcano. The same pattern seems to be happening now. The July 2011 eruption started without any earthquake activity, suggesting that magma is shallow in the crust already and doesn’t need any major change in pressure to start an eruption.

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Two earthquakes in Bárðarbunga volcano

Today (12-November-2018) at 19:21 and 19:23 UTC two earthquakes took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. The first earthquake had a magnitude of 3,6 and the second earthquake had magnitude of 3,3. Other earthquakes that have happened so far have been smaller in magnitude.


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

This earthquake activity is ongoing in Bárðarbunga volcano.

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Magnitude 4,6 earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano

At 00:08 UTC on 23-October-2018 a magnitude 4,6 earthquake took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. This is the strongest earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano for at least three months. A second earthquake with a magnitude of 3,5 happened at 00:12 UTC. This earthquake activity had earlier smaller earthquakes happening in Bárðarbunga volcano. It started yesterday (22-October-2018) with few minor earthquakes.


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

Other earthquakes in this earthquake activity were smaller in magnitude. This type of earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano is now common after the end of the eruption in 2015.

Update on 24-October-2018

Icelandic Met Office has revised the magnitude of few of the earthquakes that happened in Bárðarbunga volcano. Now the magnitudes of the largest earthquakes are magnitude 3,9, magnitude 4,6 and magnitude 3,5.


Updated map of the earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

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Article updated at 15:17 UTC on 24-October-2018.

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Earthquake activity in Öræfajökull and Bárðarbunga volcanoes

This is article is set-up in this way to save me some time due to the fact that I have to go to work tomorrow at 07:00 UTC (this is until 23rd October 2018).

Öræfajökull volcano

Since yesterday (01-October-2018) there has been a earthquake swarm in Öræfajökull volcano. There has been several dozen earthquakes in this earthquake swarm. Most of them are small. Largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of 3,1 and was felt on nearby farms (there is no town or village close to Öræfajökull volcano). This earthquake swarm is currently ongoing.

Bárðarbunga volcano

A magnitude 3,0 and 3,6 earthquakes happened in Bárðarbunga volcano today. The smaller earthquake happened early in the morning but he larger one at 13:08 UTC. There hasn’t been any large amount of earthquake activity following this earthquakes. This is now the normal pattern of Bárðarbunga volcano since the eruption 2014 – 2015 (Holuhraun).


Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga and Öræfajökull volcanoes. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

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