Posted on by Jón Frímann

A ML3.5 earthquake in Katla volcano

At 09:50 UTC today (8 November, 2011) there was a ML3.5 earthquake in Katla volcano. According to news this earthquake was felt in Vík í Mýrdal town and on nearby farms. No harmonic tremor has been detected following this earthquake.


The earthquake location in Katla volcano. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Met Office.

This earthquake was also detected on my geophone network. I currently do not have the data to locate the earthquake in my recording.


The ML3.5 earthquake in Katla volcano caldera. Please note that this earthquake is un-located, that means the P and S wave markers are unset. This picture is released under Creative Commons licence. See Licence page for more details.


The ML3.5 earthquake in Katla volcano caldera. Please note that this earthquake is un-located, that means the P and S wave markers are unset. This picture is released under Creative Commons licence. See Licence page for more details.

It is impossible to know what this means in terms of activity in Katla volcano. But this was just a normal earthquake for most part from what I can tell. There was no harmonic tremor following this earthquake.

Icelandic News about this earthquake. Icleandic mocks Google Translate every day of the year.

Skjálfti í suðurjaðri Kötluöskju (Rúv.is, Icelandic)
Enginn gosórói sjáanlegur (Vísir.is, Icelandic)
Harður jarðskjálfti í Kötlu (mbl.is, Icelandic)
„Þetta er óþægilegt“ (mbl.is, Icelandic, interview)

396 Replies to “A ML3.5 earthquake in Katla volcano”

  1. Sorry, but this is just too funny (giggling the first of Jon’s links)…
    You appear in the moment? Sitting on a couch and finding it well? The waves are easy and feel good? Sounds like a spa-advertisement. 😀 😀 😀

    Here is the entire thing for your reading pleasure:

    “You do appear in the moment”
    I sat in my desk and vibrate everything here, like moments,” said Anna Björnsdóttir, headmaster in Compulsory school in Wick. A 3.5 earthquake occurred in the Katla caldera in the morning. The children were outside in frímínútum and they usually felt the quake, but inside he felt clearly.

    “There were some on the couch in our office and found it well. A person sheds just like that, at the moment, so it is created. We rely entirely on civil defense, they let us know if something is happening. ”

    Another smaller tremors followed. No signs of gosóróa to see the recommend service.

    “The reason that this earthquake was well built is the source in the southern edge of the Katla caldera,” said Magnus Tumi Gudmundsson, a professor of geophysics at the University of Iceland.

    “It has already be stronger earthquakes north of the box, but many suggest that the magma chambers that are in the buffer surface earthquake, so that they do not exist in the settlement,” says Magnus.

    “South of Hábungu is dense rock layers in soil improvement, so the waves are easy and feel good.”
    According to the Meteorological Office will no gosórói the meters associated with this tremor.

      1. Maybe, but I remember looking at the same webcam late one evening, a few months ago, and thinking that the river level was looking a little high. Following morning, when I checked again the bridge was gone and the area had been hit by a glacial flood. Hence my inital thoughts.

      3. Fair point Inge, I’ve got that one completely wrong. Not sure what I saw on the webcam in July then, though I fear I may have been looking at Katla glacier flood pictures and some how mixing the two up.
        I believe some lessons in the basic geography of Iceland are very much required by me, as well as being banned from commenting until I at least know the location of places!! 🙂

  4. Useless to immediately post the magnitude. Look, now it has been lowered to just under3….. Always wait a bit, unless there is strict reason NOT to wait (something spectacular?)

    1. For Katla the plus 3s are quite worthy of a bit of emediate notification.
      The same goes for any quake inside Hekla proper. Why?
      Well, Katlas final propagation towards an eruption will start with 3s moving towards 4s and even possible 5s. So any 3 quake could be the start of the run up.
      Hekla only need A quake to go.
      So yes, there is need. After a while we get the confirmation. Sometimes it is lower, sometimes it is higher. But what always is done is confirmation against Jóns helicorders since then we can be pretty sure it is not a ghost quake.

      Hope this clarified the standpoint that I think is common among most readers in here.

      2. The quake in question appears to have been revised at IMO downwards, at least twice so far. Note the shallow depth.

      5. One quake?
        Hm, a minimum of a 5M.
        But in reallity, there would be hundreds of 3+, tens of 4+ and perhaps a +5 or two. And the 2s would be counted in thousands. Think of a weeks or months long quake swarm that just goes on and on and on…
        Katla is to be honest a monster, it is not on another scale from El Hierro, it is on another scale of scales. A medium eruption of Katla is a minimum of a 100 times bigger than El Hierro, and 10 times Eyjafjallajökull. And that is a run of the mill eruption. And this is not scaremongering, this is based on historical eruptions average of Katla.
        But, the springing point is that she might have a couple of small eruptions, and then go back to sleep. She could go straight back to sleep, she can putter on like this for decades. Nobody knows.
        My theory? That is that the high activity grade of Hekla is what has caused Katla to slumber for such a long time. Statistically they seem to exclude each other from erupting, so I guess that if Hekla goes, Katla goes to bed.
        I would say that on scale from 0 – 5 where 0 is no chance at all of eruption during the next 500 years, and 5 is an ongoing eruption, I would say Katla is right now at a sollid 2. A grade 3 would require one or more of these symptoms. Intermittant heavy quake-swarms (sofar medium at best), increased GPS-uplift (today it is intermittant and to small), and occasionall harmonic tremor that last for days. A 4 would be constant heavy quaeing (about 100 a day), hard consistant uplift, constant tremoring, reports of gas-smell from Myrdalsjökull. Frequent small jökulhlaups. And then… Boom…

      7. It was all for Katla.
        But, let me go on record saying that I would be surprised if a 5+ would do it really.

        Regarding Hekla. A couple of 2s would make her go. On July 7 this year she had a 2, and then a transient that almost opened up the mountain. That is how easy she is.

    3. Sander, remember that Jón has his own equipment, and from that and experience he is really never far off when he writes a number for a quake. This time he was spot on.

      1. I believe Katla will erupt soon, and without much warning.
        She has erupted once or twice every 100 years for a very long time, Eyjafjallajökull seems to get her worked up every time he erupts, for reasons currently unknown.
        I would say weeks, maybe months, I would also expect a large eruption because of how long we have been kept waiting since the last eruption and we are in a period of increased volcanic activity.

    1. Great video! 🙂

      (I’m sure Rivero will use it to promote the Canary Islands and “the worlds largest jacuzzi” on the “World Travel Market” in London now… 😉

  6. Following apparent harmonic tremors yesterday… the need to report a 3.5 is understandable. Yes… it’s slightly lower now (magnitude 3.0). But the last six or seven measurements have a quality of 99.0 and four of those quakes occured at only 100 meters. Jon’s posts are followed and appreciated by many.

    However… for some reason… the news media and Europeans, seem quite unconcerned about Katla. I don’t get it! There’s no excuse for ignoring Katla!! None!!!

    If I had a family in Vik… the events of the last 24 hours would’ve been enough for me to pack everyone up and get the heck out of there!!!

    1. Here in the Netherlands Katla will not at be mentioned in the news as long as there are no casualties or an ashcloud disturbing air trafffic. Strange enough almost nobody seems to be interested in the fascinating power of nature.

    2. Actually, Katla cannot erupt tomorrow (except for some minor sub-glacial eruption). Because this quake only shows that magma from the filled chamber is rising up to near surface, but if it´s only this, then there is probably no pressure enough to make for the expected large eruption. With this, only a minor eruption can happen.

      So, I expect a string of earthquakes deeper than the filled chamber, that show magma moving from those depths and pushing upwards. That will give the extra pressure needed for a large eruption, exactly like it happened in Eyjafjallajokull eruption.

      Magma has found a way upwards nearer the surface, but there is still not enough pressure for a significant eruption. In July, there was a minor eruption, probably with lava fountains underneath the glacier. Now, the same thing can happen again. It could even be larger, similar to a 1996 Gjálp eruption, if enough magma comes out. This itself would be nasty for Vík, with the flood passing just a few kms to its east. But I don´t expect a VEI5 eruption just with this. I am waiting for those deep earthquakes before a much expected large eruption. But no one knows what will happen in Katla. There might be nothing for quite some time, there might a small eruption in soon, or a large eruption within some time. But a large eruption needs those preceeding deep earthquakes, and also very large inflation, something that also did not happen (yet).

  8. Off topic. Volcanoes make the news! Really good shots of Nyamuragira latest eruption on Sky News in UK.

    1. I hope not too many of either fish or animal or else it won’t only be the gases that stink!

  10. From El Hierro twitter

    Nos informan que Presidencia no quiere instalar webcam porque perjudicaría el turismo, da imagen de inseguridad y peligro

    Translated

    We report that president does not want to install because it would hurt tourism webcam gives image of insecurity and danger

    1. Pffft! I wonder how many people had never heard of El Hierro before the birth of our Bob? He is portraying a bigger picture of panic by withholding this vital information surely??

    2. I hope someone wrote that as a joke, because i can not believe that they actually are so ignorant… :/

      1. on the other hand; it would explain a lot of the things that have happened during the past weeks and months…

    3. Contradictory statements, no? First on the travel fair in London they opportunistically promote the Volcanism of El Hierro as a tourist attraction, but a webcam would damage their tourist industry?

      Gee, just put a little more effort to explain that the other islands will not immediately suffer from what happens on El Hierro. And if the ash will start to fall, it will most likely be away from the islands.

      I think what we, Armand, or someone else should do is open some Paypal account to collect some money to pay for bandwidth/upload, a good cam – or several – and meanwhile search for the best place on internet where to put the images, (USTREAM, Justin.tv, etc), even if that means to get a domain with unlimited bandwidth (one.com, for instance) and find some people who can set up the whole thingamabob! – there are quiete some internet-savy technical people around from the press on the isle, for one….

      1. Maybe what they mean is that they want to control the “image” of the volcano. Like travelling around on fairs, showing off “souvenirs”, and saying “look how cute our volcano is!”. While a live webcam they have no control over. Imagine if an eruption starts, and the whole world could see it… I’m sure they are afraid it would scare off people, while it actually would do the exact opposite!!!

        And I completely agree on your donation idea! I have quite a good webcam which you can rotate, zoom etc., and I would more than happily give it to anyone on El Hierro that could install it there. Otherwise I would love to help in anyway possible 🙂

      1. Found it already:
        volcanhierro volcanhierro
        #ElHierro Nos informan que Presidencia no quiere instalar webcam porque perjudicaría el turismo, da imagen de inseguridad y peligro …

    5. Absolutely stunning :facepalm: I do hope he realizes people actually read his comments…

      I know that El Heirro is probably no Pele magnitude event, but the similarities are a little frightening. Everyone involved in public services and safety should be required to read “The Day the World Ended” by Thomas and Witts.

      Meanwhile, a little closer to my home, Oklahoma is rocking and rolling…

    1. No, I think he is spot on. With the amount of incompetence that he is showing, only a complete fool would take up a jaunt to El Hierro to see the volcano. The idiot in the government would wind up getting you killed.

      Lord help the residents there. They have to live with that sort of mentality driving the actions of the government.

      1. Perhaps the Presidente should also be held legally responsible if a civilian in Restinga is harmed due to info he has and does not wish to share…

  17. Translation Giggle & me

    The volcano of El Hierro creates the biggest explosion since its inception
    A column of ash, rocks and gases emerge from the bubble in the Sea of ​​calms and rises more than 25 meters above sea level. The explosion has left a strong smell of sulfur in La Restinga

    PEDRO GUERRA / LAPROVINCIA.ES Around 1610 hours on Tuesday an explosion of ash, rocks and gases emerged from the bubble that throughout the morning has been active in the Sea of The Cry [Hostia!! should be Mar de Calmas]. Possibly, this latest explosion is the largest seen so far in the underwater volcano near La Restinga that may have risen above the sea more than 25 meters.

    The explosion left a strong smell of sulfur in La Restinga.

    1. And the wild part about that… its that I can’t find it in the spectral display. You would think that it would leave a signature.

      2. Also was looking for a signature, it would be nice to have one.
        But it isn’t that 16:20 bar, meantime disappeared ….
        http://i.imgur.com/GX7Wq.gif

        I’ve noticed that occasionally there are gaps that are later “filled”, does anyone know why?

      3. I looked up “puffery” and guess whose picture was there in place of a thousand words??

        Presidente y Generalissimo Maximales Perfidio Armas.

        Also see: idiot, megalomaniac, stupid dumb-ass nutcase.

  18. Word is already travelling around the Spanish social media sites that the recent Nasa EO satellite image (Xana above) shows new venting close (c. 1km) to shore of La Restinga. But it doesn’t look like that to me. Instead, it looks like a classic bifurcated sediment resuspension plume: the suspended volcanic materials are looping back on themselves due to (clockwise north/anticlockwise south) currents before mixing/sinking, making it look like they ‘could’ be originating from a vent just offshore.

    Just my interpretation (based on limited experience of interpreting coastal sediment dynamics in North Sea). No doubt the rumour mongers (and some media) will turn this photo into ‘proof’ that La Restinga is about to disappear!! 😉

  19. PS Andy: sediments in the North Sea will behave totally different than those around El Hierro because of its relative shallowness and forceful currents. I know how sensitive it is re: sand depletion on Dutch beaches and the refill they do and how it affects the whole system… I often wonder how well studies are done that tell us that it’s perfectly fine to plant yet another wind farm in the sea.

    1. Luisport’s video above looks to be water columns breaking the surface- perhaps three locations. What is the diameter of the eruption? water temperature? Duration was about 35 seconds. Repeat period? Give us that info and we can get very rough estimate power.

  21. Looks more like Bob is emerging again. Columns erupting.
    “Update 08/11 – 17:28 UTC :
    Raymond writes :
    A new column of ash and magma and pyroclasts and gas rises 30 to 35 meters above the jacuzzi. The explosion generated a strong smell of sulfur and an early form of a cypressoid jet a few meters high appeared column …
    Original text : Une nouvelle colonne de cendres, de magma, de pyroclastes et de gaz vient de s’élever, d’au moins 30 à 35 mètres, au-dessus du jacuzzy. L’explosion a dégagé une forte odeur de soufre et une première forme de quelques mètres de haut de cypressoid jet est apparu dans le panache gaz-eau-cendres…”
    http://earthquake-report.com/2011/09/25/el-hierro-canary-islands-spain-volcanic-risk-alert-increased-to-yellow/

  22. 18:10 Vecinos de El Pinar acaban de sentir una fuerte sacudida. “Se ha movido todo”, informa Rosa Rodríguez desde El Hierro. Las señales se han intensificado: olor a gas en la zona de Puerto Naos (a 300 metros por encima de La Restinga), posiblemente CO2; el terremoto que se ha sentido a las 17:51 y la burbuja que no para de bullir.

    18:10 Residents of El Pinar just felt a strong jolt. “Everything was moving,” says Rosa Rodriguez from El Hierro. The signals have intensified: there is a smell of gas in the area of Puerto Naos (300 meters above La Restinga), possibly CO2, the earthquake was felt at 17:51 and the bubble does not stop bubbling

    1. CO2 has no smell.. So That part of THE Message is wrong.. Will probably be so2

      Sander

  24. Update 08/11 – 17:28 UTC :
    Raymond writes :
    A new column of ash and magma and pyroclasts and gas rises 30 to 35 meters above the jacuzzi. The explosion generated a strong smell of sulfur and an early form of a cypressoid jet a few meters high appeared column …

    1. And only 3.8 km from Los Llanillos and 5.8km from Frontera. no wonder they felt it a lot!

  26. Mr. Armas needs to take a short boat ride and then go for a swim…just to show how safe everything is.

    1. First make him pay a lot for his fare and a hotel as all the tourists he wishes to attract will need to do. Silly man!dywrit the

      1. oops, somehow the recaptch was written on the end of the message. Should have ended with Silly man!

  28. It’s noticeable that the very low frequency component (0.17 Hz) that dominated all but one (and CHIE) of the island seismographic records over the last couple of weeks has been declining and is now absent. If Bob is also declining then it may be that it was associated with the magma feed to the La Restinga eruption. However the earthquakes in the north continue suggesting the supply has not ceased. Presumably it is going to have to find somewhere else to go. Just guessing of course.

      1. Indeed I’m a bit previous. I should refresh more often. I see CHIE has been increasing since 14.00.

  29. URGENThttp://www.canarias7.es/
    18:28 Residents of El Pinar just felt a strong jolt. “It has moved around,” says Rosa Rodriguez from El Hierro. The signals have intensified: the smell of gas in the area of Puerto Naos (300 meters above La Restinga), possibly CO2, the earthquake was felt at 17:51 has had an intensity of 3.4 according to the National Geographic Institute. The bubble does not stop bubbling.

    1. This was also mentioned earlier on this thread.

      CO2 doesn’t smell. Must be another gas.

  30. “El Hierro could emerge a vertical eruptive column of a few kilometers of height”

    Seismic activity in El Hierro, far from narrowing, appears to go further with the passage of days. This past weekend has been especially busy in this regard. The emergence of magma from the depths off the coast of La Restinga has become almost a recurring event.

    “Since Saturday afternoon, magma seeks to leave the area of La Restinga.” “Apparently, this magma has two compositions, such as which I analysed, and a large explosive”, he explains to LaVanguardia.com Sunday Gimeno, Professor in the Department of geochemistry, Petrology and geological prospecting, Faculty of geology, University of Barcelona.

    “Now also are getting some samples of a more red color that would be to look at.” In principle, without are reddish, it is no longer a rhyolite (the most explosive material). “It may be a mixture of the two compositions, but unless they do not analyze it will not know,” he added.

    On the basis of the analysis carried out on the first magma appeared off the coast of La Restiga, Gimeno does not rule out that the volcanic eruption of El Hierro end leading to a phenomenon of major entity: “If I am correct, there could be a vertical eruptive column of about few kilometres in height that would expel numerous pyroclastic”.

    Gimeno has been embroiled in controversy since the say, few days ago (contradicting the official version provided until then) that the magma which emerged off the coast of El Hierro contained a large explosive potential. “I detected in the first eruption resulting magma had whitish parties.” They (the Scientific Committee that manages the eruption) claimed that everything was basalt, but that is not possible. “In Petrology is something very elementary”, he defends Gimeno.

    The Professor of the University of Barcelona has left samples of his surprise in the report referred in his day to Ayuntamiento del Pinar, of El Hierro, after analysing the volcanic samples. “Many of the Spanish public universities and the CSIC centres have teams and perfectly qualified technical personnel able to perform the same work we have carried out at the UB in comparable times and honestly, it was not clear how this characterization not was carried out from the outset by party or commissioned by the Commission of scientific monitoring of the eruption”says the report.

    From this professor’s point of view, what is preventing the Commission manages the crisis of El Hierro is to avoid the scaremongering. “But people, when are you deceived just giving account,” complaint Gimeno.

    “In the end, who will tell the truth will be the same volcano”. And it will anyway as much as some people say that nothing happens. If it does not, I’ll be the first in also to do so. “But if he goes, there may be problems.”

    Far from looking for confrontation, he wants this Professor at the University of Barcelona is put on the table all possibilities that could be derived from the current situation being experienced by the iron. Above all, taking into account the danger to the population is non-existent from the moment they have evacuated residents of the Restinga (the place closest to the underwater eruption that lived for about a month the island).

    “What I say is not to generate scaremongering.” It has been evacuated. “The things you are doing well”, sentence Gimeno.

    Source

    2. Professor Gimeno Torrente strikes back!
      Hillarous, he is pissed off now.
      For those who have missed it.
      Prof. Torrente is the most respected Geologist in Spain.He is THEE professor.

      As we all know they have withheld information and spread desinformation from the eruption.
      Enter Professors Sagiya fom Nagoya and Prof Torrente. They happily started to say what is happening, and what is coming up. IGN, Pevolca and Cabildioto Presidente Perfidio Armas saying that these 2 highly respected and cunning professor are lying Bastards.
      Problem here, the two Profs are the real deal, so the people at the beforementioned “competent authorities” will be without scientific careers (big professors can kill a career just like that).
      But, they also like to take a fight, and here came the reply. Might be the most evil attack on the beforementioned “competent authorities”.

      Hilarious!
      Prof Torrente, you are my hero! 🙂

  32. @Carl – thanks for info about Katla (above) – I was thinking about Hekla. Earlier you wrote that Hekla would “need A quake” to erupt, did I misunderstand you?

    2. Hekla would need 1 – 5 2Ms and perhaps something like 20 1Ms. That was the count the last time around.
      In July 2011 there was 1 2M and 5 0,5Ms. And a transient that reached 1/4 if the microstrain of the 2000 Heklugós.

      Eldgós is my favourite word in Icelandic.
      For a swede (and perhaps for a Norwegian) “gos” is the same word as “cuddle” (with a side service of snuggle). And “eld” is “fire”. So it makes me think of cuddling and snuggling on a blankett next to the fireplace with a couple of glasses of wine in candlelight… Sigh…

      2. I am omnidirectional in my whorship of the good Ladies of this planet…
        I think it is soon time for me to get back out there… Recoupering divorcee…

      8. For mig låter det ganska roligt, eftersom “gos” på slovenska (mitt språk) betyder “gås” po svenska. 🙂 Och jag skulle helst inte vilja gosa med en gås…

      10. Nej, det var ingen giggle, jag bodde i Stockholm i några år och larde mig svenska. 🙂

      11. Ehm, lärde skulle det vara. Jag har inga svenska bokstäver på tangentborder och sedan blir det lite svårt att skriva…
        Men bara att du vet att ni kan inte dölja era världsdominationsplanner från mig. 😉

      12. Snart börjar jag tro att alla här är svenskar i smyg 🙂 Förutom den smygnorska gruppen då.
        Lustigt at Gos är Gås, med tanke på att isländskans Gós uttalas Gås.

      13. Du vet om att om du kan svenska så är du per automatik med i våra hemliga planer på världsdominans 🙂
        Planen går ju ut på att göra alla till Svenskar. 😉

        We are only talking about world-domination, nothing more, nothing less… *innocent smile*

      17. En gås är en “fugel”. En stor fågel alltså som man äter.
        Men jag vet inte om kos är detsamma som gos, för svenska “kos” är detsamma som att fara iväg.

      1. I think also, Reykjavík is a must! And probably during the best time of the year, sunny and warm. Nice trying to pronounce Icelandic words. Looking for shells on the beach. Enjoying the architecture. Eating good fish. Get lost in the forests…… really hope I can go.

      2. Getting lost in the Forrest???!!!!
        How do one do that in Iceland?
        I know our Icelandic Friends are very proud of their Shrubbery over at Thorsmörk, but really… 🙂

        Hope to see you there 🙂

      3. To be honest I got lost strolling through the ‘forest’ of Thörsmork! But that might be because I don’t like to use maps during my walks.

      7. I’m very sure you won’t! It will be a jolly crowd. And after the news about the party has spread, in 2012 Búrfell will be “the place to be” for all the tourists.

      12. Or you can swim in the blue lagoon1

        (shrubbery) Sorry but seriously, Iceland has dibs on all the volcanos. To say that there are forrests on Iceland would be like we saying that we have volcanos…

      16. The fun with the Icelandic forests is: when you get lost in them, you just need to stand up and walk out of it and then you are not lost anymore! So you understand there was a tiny small joke in here.
        But the beaches are real. I have seen a beautiful collection of shells colleted on Icelandic beaches. It was an arthistic exhibition in Rotterdam some years ago, showing garbage from different european beaches. All possible sorts of junk, unbelieveable, but very impressive. ONLY from ONE country the findings were pure nature: delicate white and rosy-red shells from the Icelandic beaches.
        And sure there are beaches in Reykjavík, I saw two of them on the ja-map (just before the computer crashed): Sudurströnd and Nordurströnd (spelling not guaranteed). So no more nonsense now.

      17. But you can take really a bath in the sea there: because they let flow some warm water at nautholsvik!

      18. I just looked it up: “The dinky Blue-Flag Nauthólsvík Geothermal Beach, on the edge of the Atlantic, is packed with happy bathers in summer, thanks to golden sand imported all the way from Morocco and an artificial hot spring that keeps the water at a pleasant 18°C to 20°C.”
        Nice, but not warm enough. I will prefer the blue lagoon (it looks much warmer on the webcam..).

    1. Eh…
      Could Jack or Lurking or someone with a non-fever addled brain take a look at this.
      I cannot for the life of me decide if this is a aprils fools day joke or something serious right now… But I admit, it would be cool if the core was off-centre.

      2. Nah, it would not. Because it would be a natural state, and it would (if it is) probably be a sign of that it has been wobbling around since the dawn of ages.

        Actually it makes a bit of sense. According to standard theory earth was hit by a planetoid and part of it was knocked off to form the moon. Seems likely that would do a bit of things to yer innards. Also, we have the thing with the magnetic poles wandering about in a slow and steady fashion, and ontop of that the earths axiss changes slowly around. And the poles and axiss shifts would kind of be natural if the sollid iron core of the planet also moved around, since that spinning iron core is what produces our nice and lovely magnetic shield.

        But, since I am not a 100 percent I would kind of like Jack to take a good thinker upon it.

      3. Reminds me about another article about the core asymmetry a while ago:
        http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v466/n7307/full/nature09257.html (could not find full text free online…)
        See also:
        http://www.nature.com/nature/journal/v466/n7307/fig_tab/466697a_F1.html

        Basically they stated that the inner core is melting on one side and solidifying on the other, producing a translational movement in the process (and a return flow in the outer core, enhancing the melting/solidifying process). According to that model the whole core would renew through this process in ~ 100M years. Would not get off center, though, since the translational movement is supposed to be much faster than the growth rate. Also does not seem to explain the east/west asymmetry as well as maybe an off-center core could? Seems to me (as an complete outsider, though) that these two models might not really be very compatible?!

      4. It’s been widely suspected that the Earth is not in balance.

        There is a definite wobble

        It’s not the precession of the equinoxes, which is 26,000 years (spin axis), or the interaction with the orbital precession (71,000 years) that interacts to give an inclination oscillation of about 41,000 years. Everybody knows about that and archaeological history buffs to full on loons will yammer on about it to no end.

        But the other wobble is also known as The Chandler wobble. It has a period of about 433 days. (aka: “variation of latitude”)

        In all likely hood, what they found it pretty closely related to it. Researchers have been looking for an explanation, and this seems to fit the bill.

    2. Kind of expected that… The inner structure of the Earth is not solid nor liquid, it’s somewhere inbetween those two, i.e. could I say, “flexible”. Also, the shape of our Earth is not exactly a ball, it’s subtly more like a lumpy, asymmetric potato. Add to that the variations in our spin around both the rotational axis and the Sun (our orbit), changing magnetic field, asymmetric graviational field, asymmetry of continental land masses on the surface, etc.

      So, to balance the above mentioned factors, the internal structure of the Earth compensates the various asymmetries and “vibrations” to make its rotation and orbit “as smooth as energetically viable”. Of course, one part of it can surely be the dance of the mass-center of the core around the geometrical and gravitational mass-centers (due to the asymmetries, they are not necessarily the same) of the whole Earth.

      The Moon is a nice example of the opposite behaviour. The internals have solidified enough (not completely) to make Moon’s internal structure reasonably rigid. As the internals can not anymore conpensate for the various asymmetries in Moon’s structure, orbit, mass balance, etc. the rotation period of the Moon has locked roughly 1:1 to it’s orbital period around the Earth (due to tidal forces. As Earth is more massive and still possesses the abilty to be internally flexible, the Earth has not yet suffered the same fate.

  37. Update 08/11 – 18:23 UTC :
    Raymond writes :
    The explosions are following one another every 10 to 15 minutes … Large clouds of gas, steam and pyroclastic products. Magma is being ekected and with with the night falling, we start to see the redness … The ciprissoid jet can be seen with almost each explosion …
    Original text : Les explosions se succèdent toutes les 10 à 15 minutes… De gros nuages de gaz, de vapeur d’eau et de produits pyroclastiques. Il y a même du magma éclaté et on commence, avec le jour qui tombe, à en voir les rougeurs… Le jet ciprissoid commence lui aussi à se former à chaque explosion…

      6. I think it means black, rooster-tail shaped clouds sporadically bursting from the eruption due to hydromagmatic activity, but I know nothing. Google does.

        Oh, and that tit Armas.

      9. I can’t state that I know what it is… but I’ve seen the term used with regards to Surtseyan style eruptions.

        Probably from it looking like a cypress tree poking up out of the water, a solid stream that then fans out.

      10. Redness? Found this:

        http://lunaticoutpost.com/Topic-Accumulated-Seismic-energy-about-to-burst-at-El-Hierro-Canary-Islands-Volcano?page=68

        RE: Accumulated Seismic energy about to burst at El Hierro, Canary Islands Volcano
        Update 08/11 – 18:23 UTC :

        “The explosions follow one another every 10 to 15 minutes … Huge clouds of gas, steam and pyroclastic products. There is even the magma erupted and we begin with the day that is, to see the redness … ciprissoid. The jet is also starting to form at each explosion.”

        http://earthquake-report.com/2011/09/25/…to-yellow/

    1. About the strain, I don’t know what the wiggling stuff is, but I would’t worry, because Burfell is positive. Carl said (and I also read somewhere on the IMO website) that it gets dangerous when Burfell becomes massively negative (-500) and at the same time all the others go to about 1/4 of that in positive direction. That’s not the case now, so I think no problems. 🙂

    3. Kvo is being a bit unrestive. But Hekla is just so low in scale that anything looks huge. The spikiness of Búrfell strain is the rapid motions that started after the july 7 quake at Hekla.
      Looks like some small quakes with a magmatic component from Hamarinn.

    4. Diana; you probably noticed the last link is not updated (anymore?) It quits on 6 November 2011 on all stations.

  40. Yes those two seem to be friends 🙂 But I think Skrokkalda is more affected by Hamarinn …..But from Vatnsvotn up through Skokkalda to Krokottuvotn, along the line of the central rift all seems to be wobbly 🙂 I apologise for the not very scientific terms 🙂

    2. Kverkfjöll and Askja are not “wobbly” 🙂
      SO whatever is happening is not related at all.
      Hamarinn, or more to the point, Bardarbunga as it really is. Has started to show signs of waking up.

      2. It will be interesting to see this when it reaches the surface, it will probably become much more powerful once it surfaces.
        It must be getting close.

  43. Just heard on the grapevine that president of El Hierro has been on the phone to one of the most distinguished vulcanologists on the planet.
    The President hopes that by draughting him and his team onto the island it will raise his and the islands tourist profile to new dizzy heights.
    Pierce Brosnan is still unavailable for comment…

    On a serious note the world has a right to see whats going on with the aid of webcams and such. The President needs a kick in the lower twin tonsils

    1. I still strongly disagree with all the people that say the mayor or any official HAVE to set up a webcam. The officials have no responsability whatsoever to the outside world. Their primary job is to guarantee the safety of the local people and I can assure you that they got a lot more important things on their minds. For us this eruption is entertainment, and sure a webcam would be nice for us. But there is no fucking way we can claim that we have ‘the right’ to see whats going on. Come on.
      The 2010 webcams on Eyja were installed by private companies. It would have been nonsense to, for example, ask the mayor of Vík for a webcam.

      Your going way to far by saying the president deserves ‘a kick in the lower twin tonsils’.

      1. Actually, he does deserve that… but not for the webcam.

        For the disjointed statements and handling the situation, the issuance of inane and poorly thought out missives that no one can really use as guidance since they conflict with each other.

        I could really care less about the web cam. Sure, it would be nice. But coherent policies and statements go a long way towards protecting populace.

      2. That’s another issue I have not been paying any attention to, so I’ll take your word!
        My comment was merely a reaction to Ger’s rant, and indirectly to the rants at earthquake-report.com which I find unacceptable.

      3. RÚV actually is only partially a private owned company, partially it is still owned by the state of Iceland as far as I know.

    2. “draughting him and his team?”

      Unfortunately, that works on so many levels. That particular spelling made me think of a draught horse. (same as a draft horse) And… horses are usually hitched into teams, so that you have a team of draught horses to do the heavy pulling.

      So, El Perfido needs some help.

      Whoda Thunk.

      1. Hehe I will! I’m not completely sure who this guy is anyway, but whoever he might be and whatever he might have done/not done, I still think it’s close to arrogant to demand webcams. And it’s a futile attempt anyway, I doubt that this Perfidio person is checking the internet for the latests Hierro-gossips.

      2. Funny thing about those cams…

        Eyjafjallajökull went up in all it’s glory, same for Redoubt, but I spent most of my time knee deep in seismo data. To me that was where the action was.

      4. The web cams provide valuable data in order to bring more “experts” from around the world into the discussion of what may or may not occur IN THE NEAR FUTURE. Decisions made now directly involves public safety, which should take precedence over all else. For the sake of public safety and the most informed read of the situation by the scientific community in general, I say get the camera back up, and pronto.

  45. Update 08/11 – 21:20 UTC – The La Restinga Webcam story (continued) :
    Joke Volta has called this evening Mr. Atilano, the webcam owner and got a totally different story than the person who “tweeted” that the President of El Hierro prohibited the use of the webcam.
    Mr. Atilano said (unfortunately too late) that the president story was total nonsense. A typical rumor who starts to live his own live and was probably a setup by political opponents of Alpidio Armas.
    He said the real reason is simply TOO MUCH VISITORS. In only 1 hour the webcam had more than 350000 visitors! Mr. Atilano said that they are working on a solution. A stronger server and more traffic capacity may solve the problem tomorrow or the day after tomorrow.

    An apology for that tit Armas?
    Nah.

    1. I hate music in this videos. I saw everytime the same picture. Sometimes with music to sleep, sometimes with dramatic sounds…
      A eruption is a eruption is a eruption.
      Next year someone can make a great dokumentation with an interesting comment and perhaps some music. but for now I prefer someting neutral as silence!

      1. I saw one earlier that played some kind of extinction is imminent/jaws type of music! I nearly ducked and covered.

  47. From Earthquake report. –
    police is checking all luggage on the airport very carefully from people leaving the island. The action has been decided to avoid smuggling of volcano stones. Some islanders have started an online business in selling the magmatic stones for more than 300 € /piece !

    Can people really be accused of smuggling for taking a volcanic stone as a souvenir? If so I don’t think I will ever visit the Canaries ever again!

    1. I wonder if they have put the poor guy I got mine from in prisson… Would explain why I am not getting him on the phone any longer.

      Presidente y Generalissimo Perfidio Armar Declares:
      My prescious, my Preeeescioooous!

      2. Carl, I´am really worry about your attitude toward Perfidio. You’re going to be bald like Golum 🙂
        Indeed, Nemesio spoke tonight on canarian television. Since Tomorrow I will share some of his opinions and theorys at the blog with all of you.

      3. I must admit that I share the hairdresser with Sméagol.
        I am though rather taller and more muscular than Gollum, and we do not share taste in cloathes. I think I would cause a ruccus if I came dressed in a loin-cloth to the office.

    3. Madness, from a bunch of Islands that struggle to be self sufficient, now with a healthy supply of 300€ rocks.

    4. I don’t think I will ever visit the Canaries ever again if this is true as well, we should make sure “el presidente” sees this, Ha ha ha.

    5. What a joke! I myself have a nice chunk of El Teide in my glass case. Together with some fragments of Santorini, Torfajokull, Eyjafjallajokull, Lagoa do Fogo, Furnas, Sete Cidade and Hekla. 🙂
      I’m trying to collect samples from all volcanic areas I visit. 🙂

      2. I wish! I went there in July last year and I’ve tried to reach Fimmvorduhals, but I got stuck because I was unable to cross a river because of high water levels. After 2 days or so (the day I was actually leaving Iceland) I discovered there was a bridge. Yeah, I really got to learn to use maps.

  48. Your entitled to your opinion and so am I. My opinion is kick him in the nads.
    And your wrong i do have the right to see whats going on.. Again this is just my opinion.

    1. @Ger:
      I agree with you.
      I am a Swede, and I have it on good grounds that our laws say that I have the express right to harass any politican, anywhere, anyhow and at anytime, as long as I so wish, and that it is quite illegal to even try to stop me from tormenting them.

    2. You certainly are and from what I’ve heared this guy might indeed deserve it, but I think there is noway you can defend claiming officials for a webcam for personal entertainment. All he’ll give you when asked is a nice laugh I guess.

      1. Misinformation Pieter. Word was that the president stopped the webcam as it was bad for tourism.
        Funnily enough this was easy to believe by most of us. Speaks volumes of the trust people have in him.
        It has been put straight now that he didn’t in fact block the webcam.
        BUT he still needs a kick in the nads and i feel very strongly about that. This could be linked to a terrible holiday i had in Tenerife.

      2. I cannot agree that it is entertainment. It is much more than that, it is passion. For nature. And a very strong feeling of connectedness with the inhabitants.

      3. Yeah, that says it right. And I have never seen the birth of a volcano. I am not going to apologize because I am interested in this.

  49. The customs are stopping people selling the volcanic stones on the net and taking them off the island of El Hierro, thats nice no fish to sell because of the volcano so they sell stones and are stopped.
    Sometimes I just hate people in power 😡 They are so pathetic.

    1. I can understand the islanders selling the stones, if people are daft enough to pay such inflated prices then good luck to them. They have had their lives disrupted, why shouldn’t they get a bit of compensation from the volcano? In the same way, if tourists have paid for a holiday only to have it disrupted by an unexpected volcanic eruption then again why shouldn’t they have the right to a souvenir?
      Seems to be little sense left in the world nowadays.

    2. It’s obvious they do this to protect the tourists from the wrath of the Iron goddess. 😉

    1. Yep.. It seems to be unattractive to world media. No lava, no ash, nothing to report.

      1. BBC only seem interested in politics or trouble. If people started dying they would be there!

      3. “There was no wrecks and nobody drownded,
        Fact, nothing to laugh at at all.”

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