Month: March 2011

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Something odd is going on at Krýsuvík volcano [speculation]

Please note! What goes below here are speculations based on what I am observing. Nothing might happen, but then again something might happen. We just have to wait and see what happens when it comes down to it.

I have been observing a slight change in the lower frequency band (0.5 – 1 Hz) at Krýsuvík SIL station. This change reminds me of a harmonic tremor of short. But it is not strong enough to appear clearly on Krýsuvík SIL station. But that SIL station is directly on top of Krýsuvík volcano. There have not been a lot of earthquake following this change in the lower frequency bands at Krýsuvík SIL station.


Picture from Icelandic Met Office web site. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Met Office. This plot was saved at 02:11 UTC on the 05.03.2011. The changes can be seen on 0.5 – 1Hz close to the end.

I am not sure what is going on. But there might be a small chance that this is a magma that is on the move. The second option might also be that a new hydrothermal area did appear close to the Krýsuvík SIL station. If this is magma, then a volcano eruption in the area is not far off (days, weeks, months?). But only time is going to tell for sure what is happening.

Other note: The activity in north Iceland and in the highlands are frost quakes. But it is extremely cold in this area of Iceland at the moment. More frost quakes can appear on IMO maps in the next few hours.

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UK government failed preparing for a volcano ash threat from Iceland

According to a news article in The Independent today. It appears that UK government was unprepared for a volcano eruption in Iceland that could send ash cloud in the direction of UK. Like that did happen in Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption in the year 2010. But according to the same news the UK government dedicated to drop such plans from there risk assessments and planning in the year 2009. A whole year before the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano took place.

This was most likely also the case in other countries in Europe where the ash cloud did come as a surprise to governments across Europe and they did appear to be unprepared for it when it halted all flights in Europe for almost a week.

News about this.

Government failed to act on volcanic ash threat, say MPs (The Independent)
Emergency plans ‘need scientists’ (BBC News)

The Icelandic news respective. Use Google Translate and expect world of mystery to happen.

Voru óviðbúin íslensku eldgosi (mbl.is)
Eyjafjallajökull: Bretar brugðust (Rúv.is)

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Earthquake activity continues in Krýsuvík volcano [updated]

Early morning today (2. March 2011) there was a spike of earthquakes in Krýsuvík volcano. This earthquake swarm took place west of Kleifarvatn lake as the main center of the activity has been for the past two years. This type of activity can be expected in Krýsuvík volcano in the coming weeks in my opinion. Both long earthquake swarms and short ones, like the one that did happen early morning today.

The Icelandic Met Office has released a picture showing the earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano from the year 2004. Along with accumulated strain from those earthquakes and other useful data.


Picture is from Icelandic Met Office web page. The Icelandic Met Office owns the copyright to this picture.

Frame 1: Monthly number of earthquakes.
Frame 3: Total number of earthquakes. Second line: Collected strain from earthquakes.
Frame 4: Depth of earthquakes.

Here is a picture of the location of the last week earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík volcano. This is depth view. This view does not contain all the earthquakes that took place in Krýsuvík volcano.


Picture is from Icelandic Met Office web page. The Icelandic Met Office owns the copyright to this picture. Note: Dýpi = Depth

Update: Here is a updated earthquake plot of Krýsuvík volcano. This is the location of the earthquakes in Krýsuvík volcano along with the depth of the earthquakes. This is the earthquakes in Krýsuvík volcano from 25.02.2011 to 02.03.2011. This picture is from here.


Picture is from Icelandic Met Office web page. The Icelandic Met Office owns the copyright to this picture. Note: Dýpi = Depth

A overview picture of the activity in Krýsuvík volcano shows well the fissure direction the earthquakes line them self up on. The direction is almost north-south one. This map does not contain all the earthquake that where recorded in Krýsuvík volcano in last week.


Picture is from Icelandic Met Office web page. The Icelandic Met Office owns the copyright to this picture.

The pictures are from the Icelandic Met Office web site that contains weekly overview of earthquake activity in Iceland. Click on the pictures to get high resolution of them.

I am expecting more earthquake activity in Krýsvík volcano area. But at the moment it is a bit hard to know for sure if this is going to result in a volcano eruption. But in my opinion that is going to be the result in the end. But currently it is all a question about when, rather then if in my opinion.

Update: There was a earthquake with the size ML3.6 at 17:56 UTC according to the automatic data from Icelandic Met Office. This earthquake was a more south the earthquakes that happened last weekend. This can clearly been seen on the map data that Icelandic Met Office has released (see above). The depth of this earthquake was 3.6 km.

Press disclaimer: I am not a geologist and my opinion is not the one of a expert in this matter.

News about the earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík volcano this morning. Use Google Translate carefully.

Enn skelfur jörð í Krýsuvík (Vísir.is)

Blog post updated at 20:25 CET on 02.03.2011. A new picture is added and information about the newest earthquake swarm is added.
Blog post updated at 20:36 CET on 02.03.2011.

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Earthquake activity continues in Krýsuvík volcano, but at slower rate

At the current time earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano has slowed (when this is written) considerable down. But the earthquake activity has not stopped, even if it has slowed down considerable down. What is also interesting are the news about increased hydrothermal activity in Iceland (see older blog post for information on that). This lack of quiet time is interesting and gives the clues into that direction that inflow of magma might be constant. But might have slowed down as the earthquake swarm did slow down. It is interesting to notice that slowdown and few earthquakes where also common in the weeks before the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano.

This activity in Krýsuvík volcano has gone out in the Icelandic media fast. But there have been the common questions if this area is about have a eruption. But at current time the general agreement is that nobody is sure about it.

Off-topic! I want to thank all the people how have supported me with donations. But I did not expect this huge response that I got. Thanks so much for the support. It won’t be forgotten in the future.

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Having income problems, asking for donations with reluctance

As many of you know I have been running for a donations to buy a computer LCD screen. That did work out and I want to thank you all for that. But I want to use the money that was donated for what they are intended. So the donations for a new PC monitor go into that and into buying a table.

But this month after all the bills are paid I am left with nothing to buy food with. I got some money on my VISA card. But that is a bad path to go into. I already know that by experience.

As I find it honest to people how donate money to me. My income is as follows. This is converted from ISK to USD, EUR and DKK. This numbers are also public at tr.is web site, as I am on social benefits (fixed income).

All numbers are approximate and subject to exchange rate of ISK.
ISK: 139.000
USD: 1.197,45
DKK: 6.445,63
EUR: 864,64

I can provide a screen-shot of my bank-account numbers if asked for. Just email me if you require that. But as I sad. This numbers are public as this is the social welfare in Iceland.

In the absolute worst case I move back to Iceland for a few short years while the worst of the economic recession is over in Iceland and then I move to Germany. I will see how this develops over the course of March, April and May (maybe). I have a plan D and E that I am describing above.

I thank you for all your support. Both the one that has been given and the one that has yet to be given.