Volcano and earthquake activity in Iceland
According to news the glacier flood from Grímsvötn has peaked and is already dropping down. So far there has not been any volcano eruption. But harmonic tremor is still ongoing in Grímsfjall volcano and does not show any signs of stopping. But this harmonic tremor appears to be a bit fluctuating for some unknown reason.
Icelandic News. Please use Google translate.
Hlaupið að minnka (Rúv.is)
Vísindamenn í könnunarflugi (Vísir.is – Has video)
Hlaupið hefur náð hámarki (mbl.is – Has video)
Since 02:30 UTC on the 3rd of November 2010 there has been constant harmonic tremor in Grímsfjall volcano. It is currently unclear why harmonic tremors are happening at Grímsfjall volcano. But there have been some ideas that this might be because a small eruption has started at Grímsfjall volcano.
According to news from few moments ago (around 14:00 UTC) there are no signs of a eruption at Grímsfjall volcano at present time. But harmonic tremors continue at this moment like they have been doing since 02:30 UTC last night.
The possible reason why the scientists don’t see any signs of a eruption is because none are visible on the glacier at the moment. But until something appears on surface what is going on in Grímsfjall it is going to remain unclear what is going on at the volcano.
Icelandic News. Please use Google Translate.
Hlaup og órói í Grímsfjalli (Rúv.is)
Engin merki um gos (Rúv.is)
Gos gæti verið hafið (Vísir.is)
Könnunarflug yfir Grímsvötn: Engin merki um gos (Vísir.is)
Vísindamenn fljúga yfir Grímsvötn (mbl.is)
Engin ummerki um eldsumbrot (mbl.is)
International news.
New eruption could be looming in Iceland, experts warn (AFP)
Updated at 14:59 UTC on the 3rd of November 2010. News link added.
Updated at 15:22 UTC on the 3rd of November 2010. News link added.
Icelandic civil protection (Almannavarnir) have declared a uncertainty level over Grímsfjall volcano due to glacier flood coming from them. This level is the lowest level of warning that Almannavarnir have in case when there is a risk of dangerous events taking place.
At current time no eruption has started in Grímsfjall volcano. Note that this volcano is often called Grímsvötn in Iceland. But it is the same location with two names.
Almannavarnir announcement. Please use Google Translate.
Óvissustig vegna Grímsvatna (Icelandic)
Icelandic news. Please use Google Translate.
Almannavarnir lýsa yfir óvissustigi (Rúv.is)
Óvissustig vegna Grímsvatna (mbl.is)
Text updated at 19:47 UTC on the 1st of November 2010.
According to Icelandic news there is a good chance of a eruption in Grímsfjall. Following the glacier flood from Grímsvötn glacier lake. That is at least the opinion of Páll Einarsson, a geologist at University of Iceland. This is not going to be a big eruption in Grímsfjall in Páll opinion. But it is most likely going to be similar in size to the eruption in Grímsfjall in the year 2004. But no damage did happen from that eruption and it did not erupt international flight paths (just domestic ones). In the news Páll also says that the pressure inside Grímsfjall magma chamber appears to be slightly higher then in the year 2004. But otherwise the situation in Grímsfjall is almost identical to the one in the year 2004.
Icelandic News. Please use Google Translate where possible.
Miklar líkur á gosi (Rúv.is)
Rúv evening news on 31st of October 2010. Note: This link is going to die after two weeks as Rúv deletes older news streams from there web pages after that time.
Líkur á eldgosi í Grímsvötnum (mbl.is)
Meiri líkur en minni á gosi í Grímsvötnum (DV.is)
Text updated 2nd November 2010 at 20:11 UTC.
Few hours ago a glacier flood started from Grímsvötnum. But it was only confirmed few moments ago. The flood noise can be seen on following SIL stations around Vatnajökull.
Grímsfjall (increased noise)
Kalafell (increased noise)
This glacier flood is expected to reach it’s peak in about 4 to 5 days. If this is a repeat of the year 2004 events a eruption should start in Grímsfjalli in about 1 to 4 days from now. But if that plays out exacly like the year 2004 eruption remains to be seen. GVP has the eruption history of Grímsfjall here.
This glacier flood starts on the exact day as it did in the year 2004.
Icelandic news. Please use Google Translate.
Hlaup er hafið í Grímsvötnum (Rúv.is)
Hlaup í Grímsvötnum hafið (mbl.is)
Hlaup hafið í Grímsvötnum (Vísir.is)
According to the Icelandic news today geological scientists in Iceland are expecting a eruption and a glacier flood from Grímsvötnum at any time and without a any warning. But last week they did detect harmonic tremors on the SIL station that is on Grímsfjall volcano. It is not known if the harmonic tremors where created by water or by magma.
Currently the Grímsvötn lake is full and is ready to burst at any time without warning. Because of that scientists and Iceland Met Office have increased the monitoring of Grímsvötn and Grímsfjall volcano. It has been six years since the last eruption at Grímsfjall (2004) and it only where six years before that eruption (1998).
Iceland News. Please use Google translate.
Enn skelfur jörðin undir Vatnajökli (Rúv.is)
Búast við hlaupi hvenær sem er (mbl.is)
At 03:19 UTC there was a ML3.4 earthquake at 2,5km depth at Grímsfjall volcano according to the automatic SIL system that Icelandic Met Office has. This earthquake does not appear to be a after effect of the ML4.0 earthquake at Blöndulón few moments before that. Currently there have not been any other earthquake in Grímsfjall volcano. But that might change soon if this is a start of a eruption in Grímsfjall volcano. But it is going to take few moments to be clear on what is happening.
Currently there are no indicators that a eruption is starting in Grímsfjall volcano.
Update!
This earthquake was when reviewed size ML2.3 at the depth of 2.8 km.
Text updated at 14:40 UTC on the 31st of October 2010.
Over the past few days (since 26th of October 2010) there have been earthquakes happening at Blöndulón. This earthquakes are intraplate earthquakes and it unclear why these earthquakes are happening.
At 02:35 UTC a earthquake with the size of ML4.0 did hit Blöndulón according to automatic SIL system that Icelandic Met Office has. So far this is the strongest earthquake to hit this area since the earthquake swarm did start. This earthquake appears to be a start of new earthquake sequence in this area. But several smaller earthquakes have happened as a result of the ML4.0 earthquake. The depth of the main earthquake was 1km. I do expect that it was felt in nearby farms that are closest to Blöndulón.
I am expecting more earthquakes in this area over the next few days. It remains to be seen if they grow in size or not.
Update!
When reviewed the size of this earthquake was ML3.8 at the depth of 21.1 km.
Text updated at 14:41 on the 31st of October 2010.
This is the off-topic discussions for the Weekend 43. Everything volcanic or earthquakes around the world.
Let the discussions begin.
Earlier this night (around 19:19 UTC 28th of October) more intraplate earthquake did start happening north of Langjökull / Hofsjökull volcanoes. The earthquakes are in the same place as before. But please see my earlier post for information about the earlier earthquake swarm at the same location.
Currently it seems that the earthquake swarm is growing in size and frequency of earthquakes. But the earthquakes appears clearly on my Hvammstangi station. The web page for my geophones can be viewed here. The distance of this earthquakes from my Hvammstangi station is about 40 to 80 km. But no more then that I think.
So far all the earthquakes have been less then ML3.0 in size. But if the swarm gets stronger that might change with out any warning. This area of Iceland is unpopulated so it is unlikely that anyone is going to feel those earthquakes at current size levels.
