Posted on by Jón Frímann

Update on Katla volcano earthquake swarm

There has not a lot changed in the past few hours since the earthquake swarm did start in Katla volcano. Eruption has not yet started in Katla volcano and when it might start is still a mistery.

Current map of the earthquake activity.


Current earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Met Office.

Here are traces from my Heklubyggð geophone. But that is currently the geophone that I have that is closest to Katla volcano. I am collecting donations so I can buy two new geophones. The blog post about that can be found here. I do not expect to have the geophone in place before a eruption starts in Katla volcano this time around. So far the donations are up too 5,410.74 DKK, so I am not far from what I need to collect. I do not have to pay customs of this according to a email I got from the customs office when I did ask about it. But I have too pay 25,5% VAT on this when it gets here. That might be a good amount I think in Icelandic Kronas (ISK).


One of the large earthquakes. This is not the strongest earthquake in the earthquake swarm that took place this morning in Katla volcano. This is also a double earthquake, that is two earthquakes taking place at the almost the same time. That is the reason for the odd looking wave form on this earthquake trace. This picture is released under Creative Commons licence. See Licence web page for more details.


A ML3.0 earthquake that took place in Katla volcano this morning. This picture is released under Creative Commons licence. See Licence web page for more details.


The largest earthquake in the earthquake swarm this morning. Its size was ML3.55 with the depth just short of 1 km. This picture is released under Creative Commons licence. See Licence web page for more details.


A ML2.94 earthquake in Katla volcano this morning. This picture is released under Creative Commons licence. See Licence web page for more details.

So far it has quieted down in Katla volcano. But that does not mean a lot. As magma can go on the move at any time. Without any warning at all. So monitoring Katla volcano is important with that fact in mind. According to Iceland Met Office, this is the largest earthquake swarm in Katla volcano caldera since the year 2002.

I am expecting more strong earthquakes to take place in Katla volcano. But it is impossible to know when a new earthquake swarm might start in Katla volcano and how large and long it is going to last. For the moment, it is just wait and see.

Iceland Met Office has put up a news about this in English. Thanks too the readers how pointed this out!

Earthquake activity in Katla volcano October 2011

Icelandic News about this earthquake swarm.

Snarpasta hrinan í Kötlu frá 2002 (Rúv.is, Icelandic)
Snörp hrina í Mýrdalsjökli í nótt (Rúv.is, Icelandic)
Snörp hrina í Kötlu (Vísir.is, Icelandic)
Sterkir skjálftar undir Mýrdalsjökli (mbl.is, Icelandic)
Um 20 skjálftar yfir 2 stig (mbl.is, Icelandic)

258 Replies to “Update on Katla volcano earthquake swarm”

    1. They must be watching closely – That one was just downgraded to 1.0 and checked (black circly arround red dot)

  4. @Jon: Just a short technical request concerning your Blog: Is it possible to open links in a new window by default? I always forget to right-click on links published in your Blog posts and comments to open them in a new tab. Is that possible? Thanks in advance! 🙂

    1. I make all the links open up in new window or a tab by default. I have too manually check it however. So I might have forgot it sometimes. But that should not happen. As I try to remember to check the open up in new window check box.

      1. You’re right on your Blog posts (my fault), but links embedded in comments open in the same window.

      2. The person how adds the link has to add the open up in new window feature. That is not done automatically in the WordPress system, that I know of.

        There is a setting in Firefox that allows you too open up all links in new tab I think.

    2. You can open any link in a new tab with the press of your Mouse wheel button (if you don’t have a mouse with it, I highly suggest you get one).

  5. Thank you Jon. More funds on way as soon as daughter has stopped draining my bank account. 🙂 This is a fascinating blog for witnessing the build-up to a possible eruption. Am watching El Hierro, too, and as always trust people will be able to move away safely before the fireworks begin. Of course, the weekend approaches and we all know what happens on Friday nights… Increasing Seismic Tremors!!

  6. Jon,

    How do tell which are the P and S waves on each plot? – is this something that your software can identify?

    What would cause a double earthquake: coincidence or is it indicative of something else such as a pulsed movement / injection of magma?

    2. El Heirro seems to be having fewer quakes now (fewer are showing on ECMS for today). Don’t know whether this is a good sign or not; GVP had not updated its weekly report when I looked earlier today.

  9. Hi, i am coming to iceland on saturday 8th for a 2 week self drive tour around the island….is it going to be safe with pending possible eruption at katla? I wont be in that area until 14th where I will be staying at Hofn, then Vik and finishing up at the blue lagoon for my last 2 days.

    2. Are you ringroading? Do the trip anti-clockwise (counter-clockwise). Then you will pass the area early in the trip. If you do it clockwise and the road gets washed away you could be stuck getting back to Keflavik in time for a scheduled flight home.

      1. yeh i’m ringroading it, but i’m afraid i’m going clockwise….all accomadation is booked! whatever the outcome it will be an adventure…..:-)

  10. that is very true.
    I’m sure I will have an amazing time whatever happens. fasinating place. 🙂

    1. Just make sure you’re prepared. Read the evacuation advice on the IMO. Have a great time . Most stunning place I’ve ever been to. And i’m from Scotland where we have some pretty spectacular scenery of our own. 🙂

    2. And don’t forget to be prepared for poor weather; snow and ice are just as dangerous as volcanoes, if not more so. But have a great time & share the pix when you get back.

      2. Enjoy your stay!
        Longsleved woolen underwear (sweater and trouses) is a must – it keeps you comfortable in the cold and can save your live if you run into trouble due to weather conditions.

  11. I will indeed, thanks Merlin. I’m a neighbour of yours…from Northern Ireland. Have been to Scotland many many times!!(last visit was in June) Have been to Iceland in Feb and toured the south and west. this time going north, east and south. 🙂

  13. Merlin / Liz.. I’m in Scotland too. The scenery / outdoors options here just don’t compare to Iceland. Plus the people there are bloody friendly too! Even in the capital 😉 have a wonderful time Liz, just go for it! I walked right up to the new craters between Eyja and Katla a few months ago. Heard a large rumble from Katla when I was up there too. Such a rush!

    1. James – I think that large rumble would have given me a bit more than a rush !! Off that mountain faster than anything off a shovel! Agreed about Iceland. I was over whelmed with the place. And the Scots in the west are friendly. The east on the other hand…… 🙂

    2. James…I’m not from Scotland….I’ma neighbour…I’m from Northern Ireland.
      Everywhere has it’s on beauty. One of my favourite places to visit in Scotland is Glencoe…..outstanding beauty. Then again I just have to travel down the road from where I live and I am surrounded in the beauty of the Antrim Glens and the antrim coast. I fell in love with Iceland when I went for the first time in February…..i enjoyed everything about the place and couldn’t wait to get back. Rollon Saturday! I wonder will I see the northern lights when I’m there!
      or is it too early? 🙂

    1. There were 4 quakes on the Reyjkanes ridge (about 900km SW of Reykjavik) within the last hours, all between 4.8 and 5.6.

      4. There are volcanic field pretty much everywhere in that part of the MAR. There have been quake-swarms in that area for many years now, and a couple of suspected eruptions even. I just can’t find the dang paper about it.

      5. Ok, then I knew nothing about this particular area! Thanks for correcting.

      6. I will see if I can refind the paper. It was a rather large naval project ranging from Reykjaness Peninsula tip, and down to a bit south of todays activity. They also did some underwater robotic photography.

      3. At least the Seism. experts have good topics to discuss this time, recent events in Katla and elsewhere etc. Wonder … if they finish Friday night with cocktails, Lady K might shake (or stir) one up too … Hope not

  18. What’s that harmonic spike that turned up on virtually every station at midnight???
    http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/oroi/allarsort.html
    Can’t match it to any eathquakes. Seems to be most prominent around Vatnajokull.

    Captcha was in Chinese today… but I didn’t know one of the characters, so I’m afraid I skipped it.

      1. That figures, certainly, but I was amazed by how far afield it was picked up. You can see the same double spike everywhere from the north coast (hed) down to the Reykjanes Peninsula – and on some of the latter (e.g. Krokur) it’s quite substantial. I guess it must be sourced something around Hamarinn, but it’s an impressive range for all frequencies. Unless they’re training a whole heard of elephants in co-ordinated exercises across most of Iceland, of course.

    1. Yeah, weird stuff. Pretty noticeable at other stations as well. Difficult to locate it properly though.

      2. Yeah, might be. What are the reoccurring spikes at Skrokkalda btw? Tremor due to e.g. road work? They look harmonic in nature, although not too strong atm.

  23. The big question after all seems to be if the magma is eruptible or not isnt it? I mean if it is not eruptible but still moving (slowly) we might see these swarms for a long time yet before Katla actually erupts.

    1. Exactly,

      Chemical composition, volatile content and the amount of eruptible magma are key factors. If you have a large amount of eruptible andesitic-dacitic magma (much more viscous than basaltic-andesitic) with a lot of volatiles mixed in, you could have a granddaddy of an eruption. Change any of these factors and the eruption will be less violent even if the vater contained in the Mýrdalsjökull ice cap will ensure that it’s an explosive eruption no matter what erupts unless the eruption is very small and not powereful enough to break through the up to 700 meters thick ice cap.

      1. So good to read someone pointing at the very importance of chemistry when it’s about the potential scenarii. Has more influence than all the measurable effects of seismic activity in my opinion.
        But of course, it’s harder to tell what exactly are the elements we find in 15 km depth than to see the quakes. So we deal with what we have.
        Imagine adesitic-dacitic magma coming in contact with a lot of water from the icecap. If the “reservoir” volume underneath is completely full, I’d say we can really have a VEI 5++. Else, it’ll be a 4. May I call this an “educated guess”?

      2. As far as I understand the most common eruptive style (according to tephra samples) has been basaltic which in itself would not be as explosive as a silicic rich eruption.
        However there has been eruptions at Katla which has been rich in silica (viscous, high gascontent). Of course due to the icecap both types would be explosive but one might be more so than the other.

        Now that makes one wonder. Is there different types of magma beeing mixed? Is Katla beeing fed from different sources?

        As usual just speculation and it will all come down to “wait and see”. 😉

      3. Is there even mixing with the melting rock around the reservoirs and the “channels” that could reach significance? Probably not, I know, but here again, who can be so sure…

      4. The problem with second-guessing Katla is that there’s a very large magma chamber that hasn’t completely emptied when she’s erupted because a lot of the magma has been non-eruptible. This non-erupted magma has been cooling/fractionation for Le Bon Dieu knows how long. Since cooling, fractionating and solidifying isn’t a linear process, a jump (a point temperature+pressure at which certain minerals crystallise) could mean that it is more susceptible to a rise in temperature caused by an influx of very hot basaltics from the depths (imagine the reverse of a pot of Stroganoff where you put in rice to stop the tomato sauce from splattering, i.e. you take out the rice and it splatters badly).

        In such a situation, just because a lot of sulphides have crystallised out, the silica-rich remainder would be a far worse proposition if it were remobilised. Could this happen at Katla? I don’t know, but my knowledge of mineralogy tells me so.

      5. Yes, what of the “magmarests” has been “removed” so far by cristallisation, how exaclty will it recompose in a reaction with the fresh influx, what energies (i.e. cristallisation-energy) are left in the pot that will add to the new ones. That’s why even far from scare mongering I think Katla is very worth being watched carefully. We can have from VEI 4 to even 6 as initial boom I ought to say, and from few to laaaaarge amounts of ejected materials, in days or months.
        Chamber-volume is potentially here if the process “mobilizes” the material in all of it, chemistry might be complex enough for merely every result, time has been enough for pressure build-up, and we’re not sure about the permeability of the rocks between the chamber and the surface.
        Boah, very, very interesting. A lot of possibilities, few chances to definitely exclude things.

      6. Henrik, the answer is actually simpler than you think.
        What I write below is based on the Askja eruption from 1875, but I think Katla works the same in this capacity.

        The fissure eruptions, ranging from small flanking fissures to the Eldja ultra-scale rifting fissures have on thing in common. During the Askja eruption she erupted highly explosive material through the Viti small-scale caldera formation. This highly tephrich (I just invented that one) magma came from the top of the magma-reservoir. At the same time the fissure eruption squished out huge amounts of basaltic lava that was fed from the bottom of the reservoir.
        The reasoning here was that the more evolved explosive magma was ontop and consisted of old magma high in residue content from earlier magma infusions, and that the magma in the bottom was fresh basaltic magma inserted from the crust.
        Laki followed that pattern with tephrich magma at Grimsvötn, but with a twist. The initial Laki magma was more andesitic, but the later stage was basaltic in the extreme with perhaps the most beutyfull olivine chrystals on the planet.
        The Eldgja lavas seems to be an intermediary between Askja fissure lava and Laki lava, but of course with a lower REM content due to hotspot displacement.
        Hope this clearified it.

    2. You’re rignt. Like Carl often says. I’m “afraid” he’s right about an eruption next year, even if you never know. Personally (as if it mattered…) I’d like an eruption to take place soon as it is know so long time ago I started trying to imagine a realistic potential for icelandic volcanism during my lifetime, and I’m a bit fed up with theories that would need proof by some consequent event. But that’s an egoistic, nearly perverted point of view. I’m fine with that as sooner or later locals will anyway have to deal with something “bigger” than Eyjafjoll…
      I like this blog because of the lot of people still having energy to really think an calculate stuff on such a nearly unpredictible situation. I lost my fire sometimes ago. Never managed to count in all the factors. First “feelings” and “big thougts / ideas” finally turned ou to be as good as detailed, loooong “modern science” approach.

      1. hey Geo! Good to “see” you here. There was a query about the possibility of a landslide at Hierro a few posts back and I looked for you. 🙂
        I miss your conversations. My first thoughts here are, you do not sound your usual bubbly self . I hope all is well.

      2. Hi Di (just for the rhyme :-)),
        Naaa. You know, my professional life for years know is a little like being Don Quichote. Fighting for hazard / risk management issues, convincing “fools” that we need prevention… One lawyer farts and they find millions (money) to excite themselves and give things importance, but when you come to convince them of reasonable things you have to fight like a – erm, I’d like to say lion, but it might rather be idiot.
        Then add private life stuff… And suddenly the “bubbly-one” I like to be gives space for the terribly serious me, “GeoSerioso”. But I don’t want him to share heaviness and darkness with others, so be sure, aerial me is back right after this message. You guys here are all so incredibly intelligent and “serious”, no need for more of that kind (take it with a smile). A fool amongst you will do no bad – except of course for 2012ers… 🙂
        Geeez are you a sensitive person. It’s a compliment. Such a shame we are both married and that you are so bloody young for me.

      3. Oh! You smoothie! 🙂 Find my life history on Facebook and you will realise the danger of on line dating. Rofl. But yes in geological terms I am soooo young . 🙂

      4. I’m not on facebook – and never will be. Uncool, I know. Stonehead, nothing to do about that…
        And now little girls are calling me a smoothie – hell of a day… 🙂
        Thanks. Cheered me up a lot.
        Jon, your blog has just become an online psycho-therapy… Where will it end? 🙂

      5. But of course all is well. I’m a healthy occidental citizen with a job and an iPhone. And I’m not greek or italian, nor german who pays for them.
        Ouououh, this was a kick in my continental fellows nuts. Sorry, didn’t mean that bad.

    3. Anyone knows a good article on Katla’s magma compositions? I’d like to know more about the 954 and 1755 events specifically…

      2. Found that article independently, too. And I’d really like to get my eyes on it… Anyone eager to help?

      4. Postglacial volcanism in Iceland,
        Thorvaldur Thordarson1 and Ármann Höskuldsson2.

        Not the answers you might want, but interesting hints.

      5. Read it, as well the Katla paper, too.

        Very interesting, but too much for one evening…

  26. Thursday 06.10.2011 06:50:42 63.636 -19.197 3.2 km 0.5 41.56 2.7 km E of Goðabunga

    2. Or some kind of sheep-activity. You never know what they are capable of. Never. 🙂

      2. They’d have to be pretty persistant sheep ! And what on earth could they be doing to cause that amount of shaking! it’s probably Carl up to something. Seriously, I hope these winds don’t damage the cam as it seems to be the only one pointed at Katla that’s working at the moment.

      3. Hi Di, Geo, sheep et al, been a while looks like i’ve missed loads looking forward to catching up.

  28. Merlin, must admit.. it was a mixture of fear and excitement as we cowered down to feel the ground for vibrations staring at the face of myrdalsjokyll! The rumble was the result of an ice fall (july 28). And yes, sadly i live in Edinburgh :(, not originally from here tho and always seeking a path taking me to Glasvegas! Icelandair from Glasgow too, cheap as chips..

    1. And you don’t have to come back via Manchester anymore . So Iceland very accessible from Scotland. Kudos on not losing it during the Katla rumble ! I’d have loved to have witnessed that. I think 🙂

    1. Looks like some kind of technical issue.

      Or maybe there is more than one sheep up there? With a taste for GPS stations instead of webcams? 🙂

    2. More likely those Richter 3’s were slips. Jon said he hadn’t seen a harmonic with that swarm. Magna lubricating a fault? Cool if that is what it is.

      1. Is there any possibility that the CO2 pumping near hengill could be doing just that – lubricating faults (at least locally)? If this does what it is supposed to do, then it will be forming carbonic acid when dissolved in water, which the theory is will react with basaltic rock to form limestone i.e calcium carbonate. However, water could be a good lubricant, and here we have additional water pumped at high pressure directly into a triple juction. We have seen substantial earthquake swarms as a result, and we have seen clearly related EQs quite some distance from the boreholes. If one part of a fault ‘slips’ the energies transfer to elsewhere along the faultline where it gets ‘caught up’ (unless the whole faultline is fluid).

        Not saying this has anything to do with Katla but I do wonder about Reykanes, if the above were true.

  30. So…
    2011-10-06 01:03:34.0 7hr 01min ago 58.07 N 32.53 W 10 4.5
    2011-10-06 00:39:33.0 7hr 25min ago 57.95 N 32.58 W 10 5.6 2011-10-06 00:03:04.0 8hr 02min ago 57.99 N 32.42 W 10 5.0 2011-10-05 23:52:20.0 8hr 12min ago 57.97 N 32.59 W 10 5.3 2011-10-05 23:02:12.0 9hr 02min ago 58.00 N 32.66 W 10 4.7 REYKJANES RIDGE

    nice swarm…about the noisy moments of the Jon’s helicoder.

    I suppose that are not, in any case, related.

    1. Movement (widening?) of the Mid Atlantic ridge?

      Given the number of large quakes on other large faults globally, a ripple effect may be occuring?

  31. The summer has gone and the sky looks full of snow clouds over Katla http://live.mila.is/katla/
    To check the wind strength I use this link at the bottom of Jon’s webicorder pages.
    http://www.simnet.is/jonfr500/earthquake/vedurheklaen.html

    Jon’s helicorder is situated at a fairly low altitude so for the wind speed on the Katla cam ,which is SSW of Myrdalsjokull and on an exposed ridge not protected from the wind , I tend to add one or two to the gust strengths recorded on the second dial.

    For Merlin’s query about sheep activities…..
    http://www.google.co.uk/imgres?q=shaun+the+sheep+images&hl=en&sa=X&biw=1014&bih=632&tbm=isch&prmd=imvns&tbnid=WqszF6W6ZgerAM:&imgrefurl=http://livingwithanerd.com/shaun-the-sheep/&docid=uLL0Hw8FKthocM&w=460&h=300&ei=1mmNTqWNO4ap

    2. Thanks Diana. I often wondered how they could have such immense effect on technology. Now I know – teamwork . You’ve got to respect the woolly wonders ! 🙂 And thanks too for the wind info.

      1. It is very hard to describe a harmonic tremor and even harder to spot sometime I think. 😉

        Harmonic tremors looks more like a continous fluctuation on the tremorchart (the type you linked to). Then there are different types of harmonic tremors depending on depth, intensity and so on such as shallow volcanic tremors, surface events (man made) and some other types. Below is a good image of how volcanic harmonic tremor might look like.

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Harmonic-tremor.jpg

        The charts over at IMO are a bit different as they do not have the same graphic and there it is even harder to distinguish between a quake swarm (if it is intense) and a tremor spike.

  33. Thursday 06.10.2011 11:15:32 63.642 -19.345 1.1 km 0.8 68.82 4.7 km W of Goðabunga

      1. Carl, can you explain to me how in the early hours of the morning there was a 2.3 at a depth of 0.1km! And at 99% quality?

      3. A nice quake? 6 and more…
        Ever seen a worse joke? Top that or you’re all pink sissy-sheep… 🙂

      4. The only nice quake is 6 in the morning. Perhaps 7 since that is just exaggerated 6.

        The 2.3 might have been an ice-quake, or stone shattering due to the weight of the ice.

  34. Daniel is right about spotting harmonic tremors,especially on the IMO graphs.
    I think there has been harmonic tremor at Grimsvotn this morning
    http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/oroi/grf.gif
    and also at Skrokkalda.
    http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/oroi/skr.gif

    Is the unrest at Katla having some effect on the Hamarinn area? I think not as it is far away and a separate system as far as we know.
    Hekla is also showing some twitching. Again is this as a result of Katla’s restlessness or from the activities on the Reykjanes Peninsular?
    I do not expect any definite answers to these questions that are going thorough my mind this morning.
    However Katla is at her most beautiful this lunch time. So clear and serene.
    http://live.mila.is/katla/

    1. It indeed looks like a small harmonic tremor –> since it affects all three frequency bands.. Especially the one at skrokkalda..

      Sander

  35. Yip…I have my woolies etc packed! So looking forward to it. hopefully everything will run smoothly!
    I will indeed enjoy my time in iceland, thanks or.

  36. …and on el hierro also some swarm > near to the coast.
    1103069 06/10/2011 10:52:49 27.6659 -18.0413 13 3.2 mbLg SW FRONTERA.IHI
    1103125 06/10/2011 10:48:15 27.6994 -18.0433 13 2.8 mbLg SW FRONTERA.IHI
    1103118 06/10/2011 10:47:31 27.6923 -18.0372 14 2.8 mbLg SW FRONTERA.IHI
    1103112 06/10/2011 10:44:09 27.6818 -18.0522 15 2.0 mbLg SW FRONTERA.IHI
    1103061 06/10/2011 10:38:24 27.6736 -18.0444 12 2.5 mbLg SW FRONTERA.IHI
    1103057 06/10/2011 10:35:53 27.6642 -18.0203 14 2.7 mbLg S FRONTERA.IHI
    1103083 06/10/2011 10:35:28 27.6959 -18.0278 17 2.5 mbLg SW FRONTERA.IHI
    1103133 06/10/2011 10:30:10 27.6844 -18.0298 16 2.5 mbLg SW FRONTERA.IHI
    1103067 06/10/2011 10:28:54 27.6779 -18.0244 13 2.0 mbLg SW FRONTERA.IHI
    1103059 06/10/2011 10:28:05 27.6725 -18.0340 12 2.6 mbLg SW FRONTERA.IHI
    1103052 06/10/2011 10:24:34 27.6889 -18.0268 16 2.5 mbLg SW FRONTERA.IHI
    1103074 06/10/2011 10:21:50 27.6760 -18.0190 11 2.5 mbLg S FRONTERA.IHI
    1103141 06/10/2011 10:21:02 27.6880 -18.0185 16 2.5 mbLg SW FRONTERA.IHI
    1103130 06/10/2011 10:19:57 27.6542 -18.0443 13 3.0 mbLg SW FRONTERA.IHI
    1103121 06/10/2011 10:16:11 27.6785 -18.0256 16 2.6 mbLg SW FRONTERA.IHI
    1103107 06/10/2011 10:15:35 27.6637 -18.0239 13 2.6 mbLg SW FRONTERA.IHI

    1. Thanks for that, but it is not as startling a revelation as the link makes it out to be. It’s been known for some time that mass wasting is a normal step in the life cycle of the Canary Islands, so discovering a slide deposit is like discovering that your dog likes to chase rabbits.

      The discovery is important in that it gives more data to analyze and better understand the process, just like keeping your dog away from rabbits save the time and efforts of trying to figure out where it went.

      But.. it’s a good link and good data. Thanks!

      1. My dog chases birds. The bigger problem is that it shits 5-6 times a day. What can one do when he has a Jack Russell…

        Just absolutely can’t resist making bad jokes. Some of you terribly provoque it. Rhaaaaaa! 🙂

  38. Since I have little knowledge about volcanic eruptions, and at the same time is new to this blog I take the chance to ask for a quick explanation about the website I refer to below. The lines in the blue graf looks like they show activity when there are earthquakes. The green and red seems (to me) more like wawes with no big changes in “thickness”, they just move slowly up and down. Can I spot a “harmonic tremor” from any of these grafs, or do I have to go to another website to see that?

    http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/oroi/god.gif

    2. You can’t spot them easily on IMO (at least on the public Tremor pages). The single spikes are straightforward termors, whereas harmonic tremors appear as a group of spikes with some thickening because they are not a single jolt. However, the scale on the IMO graphs does make it easy to distinguish between the two.

      Afraid I have to ask Jon or take a look on his helicorders on this site.

      1. Hi Karen

        Forgive this ‘ill informed’ question but i have just got the link to Jons’ helicorders and do not understand how to read them It appears to me that the Hekla graph shows lots of activity but IMO is not showing mopre than one small EQ! Am I seeing wind and background noise rather than seismic activity?

        Suzie

      2. Hi Suzie, the Hekla Helicorder picks up earthquakes from all around Iceland, so all of the spikes you are seeing are either wind noise, or quakes from Katla or the Reykjanes Ridge! 😉

      3. This is just a wind noise for the moment. My geophone also does not pick up earthquakes all around Iceland.

        It only detects the largest earthquakes at certain distance. For earthquakes up to Mb5.0 > in size the most distance that I can detect that type of event is about 1000 km.

      4. It’s not an ill imformed question. Please note that most of us have to ask Jon whether or not there is a harmonic tremor.

      5. Yepp, he has the distinct advantage of seeing things more clearly than we do. But he is very kind and posts picture of the more memorable events 🙂

  39. Jon can you comment what’s happening in El Hierro today? Activity is piking up!

    1. The magma is trying to find a pathway up too the surface. But it seems to me that it is a bit stuck at the moment. Given the earthquake pattern that I am seeing.

      1. Jon, the other day I did a commentary on the depth of some earthquakes in 48 hours they were for the 10 km, and that comment that could be a new injection of magma and we might see a swarm in a short period of time, it seems that’s what that happened, the question is that maybe the camera is full therefore has no movement, until they get more pressure or a new injection of new magma.

  42. A bit off topic, but “How to Build a Volcano” is on Channel 5 now, if you are in the UK!

  44. Good news. The donations so that I can buy two new geophones now stands at 6,001.60 DKK. So it is not far from what I need too collect so the geophones can be bought. The target is 6,731.18 DKK.

    But there is also some bad news. I am getting broke, again (sight). I only have around 2150 DKK in my Danish bank account. Some people choose too donate directly too my bank account. Thanks too them that amount is not lower then it already is. Because of this problem. I can buy the geophones soon. But not pay the VAT (25,5%) and buy some food for the month. As I have to buy food during the weekends and the day that the dormitory (dorm for short) (where I currently live) kitchen has something that I do not eat.

    The reason for this problem is the fact that I had too pay for new hard drivers on my computers, plus I did buy a new dvd drive/writer that goes into the main earthquake computer. This all costs money so I collected a budget defect that I knew would hit me hard. I also have to pay one phone bill for my danish phone number that I have. This budget defect that I now have is making me broke, again.

    I did make a topic about it here, http://icelandgeology.net/?p=1575 But it didn’t get a lot of attention. Why I do not know.

    One thing is for sure. All this being broke has permanently made sure of that every time I go to a ATM machine to get some cash. I always fear that my card is going to be denied because I am broke.

  46. is there a different donation site/location for each ?? I’m not clear where to donate anymore (sigh)

    1. The donations buttons all go too the same place. It doesn’t matter what one you use, but they are in different currencies. The bank account number on the donation web page is for people how do not use Paypal or other web service like that.

      The text is too explain in details what I need the donations for. So people know what and why they are supporting me.

      1. The donations buttons all go to the same place. It doesn’t matter which one you use, but the currencies are different. The bank account number on the donation web page is for people who do not use Paypal or other web service like that.

        The text is to explain in detail what I need the donation for, so people know what, and why, they are supporting me.

      2. Please. Try to understand this, about 70 percent of those who read this blog are not native english speakers. We all make grammatical and spelling errors now and then.

        If we are going to go nitpickity about things, this is how the end sentence should have been.
        “The text is to explain in detail what I need the donation for, so people know what they are supporting me with and why.”

        Well, jolly go gosh, ain’t it fun to suffer from correctivial analism.

      4. Oh, the grammar police. I need to increase my spelling errors when I answer you.

        But first.

        “For me, the biggest problem with the internet in general and social media in particular is those people who seem to feel the need to point out everything they find wrong with what you do, what you say, or how you say it. Call them Internet Police, Grammar Police, or (Pick a word) Police. What right do they have to point fingers at others and declare that someone is stupid, a moron, a douchebag or whatever? In my honest opinion, people who do this regularly are not much better than trolls. It’s one thing to disagree with a persons politics or ideas, it’s quite another thing to attack the person who holds them.

        When I read a blog, or a tweet or a comment, I look at what I’m reading with the knowledge that the person writing it might not be from an English speaking country. Sometimes I ask myself if they might be connected to the World Wide Web via Smartphone or other small keyboard device? I’m also aware that every country has regional dialects which will affect how they speak and in many cases how they spell. None of which makes them “schtupit”, just interestingly different.

        In life, I’ve met people who could speak many different languages fluently and still couldn’t say the word aluminum. Rather than a-lum-in-um it would become al-u-min-ium. I can’t speak any language other than the language of the country in which I was born. What right do I have to say anything at all? People make mistakes, we’re all different and we all should have a value to one another in spite of those differences. Frankly, these mistakes are amusing to me because they show a side of people that I might not get to know in another manner.

        […]
        http://www.thetazzone.com/oh-noes-the-grammar-police-are-lurking/”

        I defent my posion when I have too. Make no mistake about it.

      5. Jon ignore it. I read many blogs which would make you think English is not their first language. We all make typos too (more confusing than grammar if you ask me)!

        There is also regional variation as many of your British followers could tell you about. I once visited friends in the West Midlands and had difficulty at first with the phrase ‘yeow’ which is not an exclamation of pain but ‘you’. I noticed this and other words crossed over into email communication which I thought was a combination of bad spelling and grammar. It was reflecting how they spoke.

        Language, despite rules, constantly evolves and we are seeing English pick up from many cultures which affects the grammar and even spelling:

        http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jafaican#Grammar

      6. Hey… I take offence at the article title! Since when have I ever given a squat about grammar?

      7. Jon, don’t worry – I really appreciate the fact that this blog is in English and that you take the time and trouble to translate for us Englsih speakers. Even if the English is not 100% perfect, you have a great diplomatic way of writing and you present data well in an easily understood form.

      8. @grammar police:

        Based on the errors you make, I suspect you aren’t originated from Britain or US or any other natively english-speaking country.

        In case you are, you must have skipped the school’s english lessons…

      9. You know… the really funny part about it is that English is one of the more bastardized languages on earth. It has fragments and rules/semi rules from many of the “purer” languages all rolled up into a congealed mess.

        And this idiot wants to argue its rules.

        A radio baseball phrase fits well, “swing and a miss”

  48. No tremors on Katla since 12:00, except a small one of -o.1?

    Is she getting her strength up for the week end?

    1. Does stormy weather over the area silence the equipment? Make it hard to pick up activity? Jon mentioned the bad weather earlier but there is no warning from the met office like there usually is right when the tremors stop showing.

    3. Who would guess from that beautiful footage that the island is in turmoil down below. Strange choice of soundtrack tho – the very irish ‘Lakes of Pontchertrain’

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