Month: July 2012

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Earthquake swarm in SISZ this morning (31.07.2012)

This morning there was an earthquake swarm in SISZ. This earthquake swarm was located just south of Hveragerði and Selfoss town. The largest earthquake in this earthquake swarm had the magnitude of ML1.3. Most of the other earthquake where less the magnitude 1.0 in size. Focal depth for this earthquake swarm was 5 to 6 km. Total of 30 or so earthquakes where recorded in this earthquake swarm. This earthquake swarm is in continued activity in this area. But SISZ often has frequent smaller earthquake swarms.


The area of earthquake activity in SISZ this morning (31.07.2012). Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

This doesn’t mean anything special. But SISZ (South Icelandic Seismic Zone) is always at risk having large earthquakes. But based on how short it was since last one took place (May 2008). It is unlikely that is going to happen now.

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Donations for replacement geophone hardware needed

I have been having some issues with one of my new geophone station. This is the geophone station at Skeiðflöt. That geophone station monitors the activity in Katla volcano. So if anything happens in Katla volcano. I am going to see it first and best on that geophone station. My web page with all my geophone stations can be found here.

The problem seems to be hardware (failure in the hardware), or at least hardware incompatibility over USB port. This has resulted in that Skeiðflöt geophone station is always freezing. This happens every 2 to 4 days. I have to reboot the computer to get it working again (suggesting hardware incompatibility rather then anything else). But I cannot have this geophone station working like this. As frozen station means lost data from it. I do not know why the station is failing as it is doing. But

The cost of new replacement station (that is going to be serial, not USB) is $405 (2457 DKK) at current time. I do not know what the customs duties are for this in Iceland. But I do think they are none into Denmark (EU) on this type of electronics. I am going to replace the hardware in December 2012. As then I am going to Iceland over Christmas. At the same time I hope to install backup power at Skeiðflöt geophone station. But cheap backup power (650VA/360W) costs 10950 ISK (547 DKK, 73€, $90).

At current time I cannot pay for the replacement station, even if I wanted to. For that reason I am asking for donations to help fix this issue. I have already done a lot and spent some money on this issue. But I did move Skeiðflöt geophone station to 3G connection few weeks ago in order to improve connection stability. But that had been a issue for some time, as at first the station was connected over WLAN and ADSL.

Thanks for the support!

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Fish dying in Kleifarvatn lake due to increasing toxic and hydro-thermal activity

According to Icelandic news today. Fish has been dying in Kleifarvatn lake. But Kleifarvatn lake is inside Krísuvík volcano system. The exact reason why the fish is dying is not known at this point. But report suggests that large amount of fish has been seen dead already. I do not know how much fish there is in Kleifarvatn lake.

This suggests that hydro-thermal and hot spring activity in increasing in the lake. This also suggest that increased toxic levels (for the fish) are now changing in the lake. What toxins are at work here I do not know. But it can be assumed that it is what comes with magma.

For the past three to four years. Krísuvík volcano has been inflating and deflating at regular time intervals. What this means in unclear at present time. But this is signs of increased activity in the volcano anyway. Hydro-thermal and hot spring activity has also been increasing during this period. This has also been followed by increased earthquake activity in Krísuvík volcano when inflation takes place. What happens next is impossible to know for sure. But it is clear that Krísuvík volcano is still far away from erupting any time soon.

Icelandic news about this

Fiskar í Kleifarvatni sagðir í andarslitrum (Vísir.is)
Fiskar i Kleifarvatni sagðir drepast í stórum stíl (Vísir.is)

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Earthquake swarm on TFZ and in Þeistareykir volcano

This is going to be short blog post.

Earthquake east of Grímsey Island

Earthquake with the magnitude of ML3.5 (estimate) did take place at 19:48 UTC. This is normal tectonic activity for this area. But this area of Iceland has the most earthquake activity most of the year.


Earthquake activity in TFZ. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

Þeistareykjabunga volcano

It was noticed by a reader of this blog that Þeistareykjabunga volcano was having few earthquakes. Þeistareykjabunga volcano last erupted in the year 900 BC (+- 100 years). This earthquake swarm was small. Mostly earthquakes with the magnitude of ML0.5 to ML1.0. The focal depth of this earthquake swarm was around 5 km. So this in all, is most likely an tectonic earthquake swarm. Rather then volcanic. Þeistareykjabunga volcano is an active volcano. But at current time I do not think anything has changed in that volcano at present time.


Þeistareykjabunga volcano is located north of Krafla volcano. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

I do not expect anything more to happen in Þeistareykjarbunga volcano. But if there are changes, they won’t go unnoticed.

Thanks to Mafl for the tip on Þeistareykjabunga volcano.

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Quiet in Iceland earthquake wise

Currently it remains quiet in Iceland in terms of earthquakes and other geological activity. I am using that chance to have a bit of summer break. I am also going to move in August, so there is that. I am not moving back to Iceland. I am just moving inside Denmark. From Åbenrå to a small town named Padborg. But I think smaller towns work better for me then larger towns.

Because I am moving. I have to pay double rent in August. I hope that I do not have to pay double rent in September and October (that means more and new overdraft for me. Something I do think is an bad thing for me). This is going to leave me bit out of pocket. So all support is welcomed.

I am going to be on part-break until after I move to Padborg. But if anything major happens. I am going to write about it soon as possible.

Katla volcano

Katla volcano continues to have small earthquake swarm. What that means is still unclear. Largest earthquake in few days was earlier this week. That earthquake had the magnitude of 2.6 and had the depth of 0.3 km. Several smaller earthquakes did take place following this earthquake swarm. Since then Katla volcano has remained quiet. Small glacier floods are still a high risk from Mýrdalsjökull glacier.

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Iceland hotspot history of past ~65 million years

Here is an short history of the Icelandic hotspot for the past 65 million years. But it is believed to be around that old. Based on current studies into it.


Iceland hotspot during past ~65 million years. Copyright unknown, but belongs to it’s author. But the picture is from this web site here.

There is a lot of debate about the hotspot under Iceland. If it exist, or how it works. A lot of unanswered question remains. But with time and study. I am sure that some of them are going to be answered.

More information (short version)

Iceland hotspot (Wikipedia)
The water content of olivines from the North Atlantic Volcanic Province (SicenceDirect, Paywalled)

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Small glacier flood from Mýrdalsjökull glacier (Katla volcano)

According to Rúv News this evening. A small glacier flood started flowing from Mýrdalsjökull glacier (Katla volcano) few days ago. According to local farmer in the area. Glacier floods like this are common and several have taken place during this summer, none of them have created damage. The current glacier flood is from a glacier river called Leirá river. This glacier flood is from an cauldron somewhere close to middle of Mýrdalsjökull glacier. There is small risk of damage to local roads and fiber optics cable in the area. Some glacier breakage has been reported in the glacier where the floods comes from.

I am going to update this blog post if anything major happens with this glacier flood.

Update 1: It now appears that this glacier flood is now appearing on Rjúpnafell SIL station. So far just on this only SIL station. But that might change at any time if this glacier flood grows in size.


The tremor from the glacier flood can be see at the end of this harmonic trace. The spike is an earthquake in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

Icelandic news about this.

Lítið hlaup í Leirá (Rúv.is, Icelandic)

Blog post updated at 00:07 UTC on 14.07.2012.

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Minor earthquake swarm in Katla volcano

This Sunday is not quiet when it comes to earthquake activity in Iceland. Earlier today a small earthquake swarm started in Katla volcano. The largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude 2.3 according to the automatic SIL system. The largest earthquake did appear clearly on Skeiðflöt and Heklubyggð geophone stations. But Skeiðflöt geophone station is closest to the area where this earthquake swarm was taking place.


Earthquake swarm in Katla volcano. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.


The earthquake trace on Skeiðflöt geophone station. This is filtered at 1Hz. I have not located this earthquake trace (no P and S wave markers). This image is released under Creative Commons Licence. Please see CC Licence page for more details.


The earthquake trace from Heklubyggð geophone station. This is filtered at 1Hz. I have not located this earthquake trace (no P and S wave markers). This image is released under Creative Commons Licence. Please see CC Licence page for more details.

It is impossible to know what happens next in Katla volcano. But it is monitored heavily, so if anything happens. It is going to show up almost in real time on the internet.

GPS monitoring of Ice cauldron on Mýrdalsjökull glacier

In the news on Rúv yesterday (07.07.2012) they did tell about real time GPS monitoring of ice cauldron in Mýrdalsjökull glacier. But it is hoped that with this real time GPS monitoring they can give out warning sooner when a ice cauldron empties it self of the water it holds.

The news about this can be found here on Rúv News in Icelandic.

GPS-tæki komið í sigketilinn (Rúv.is, Icelandic, video)

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Earthquake swarm in SISZ continues

The earthquake swarm that I wrote about yesterday (7. July 2012) in South Icelandic Seismic Zone (SISZ) continues. The largest earthquake so far has reached magnitude 3.1. The earthquake swarm has been ongoing for almost three weeks now. But almost all of the earthquakes that have been taking place during this swarm have been small earthquakes, often with less then 2.0 in magnitude. Earthquake activity is ongoing in SISZ at the moment. It is impossible to know if there are going to be any more earthquakes with magnitude 3.0 in this area. The magnitude 3.1 earthquake was felt in Selfoss and Hveragerði towns.


The area on SISZ where this earthquake swarm is taking place. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.


Map that shows how the earthquake was felt in this area of Iceland. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.


The earthquake did appear clearly on all of my geophones. This is from Eyrarbakki, the geophone that is closest to the earthquake swarm. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.


This is the earthquake seen on Heklubyggð geophone station.


The earthquake seen on my Hvammstangi geophone. This is filtered at 4Hz due to local noise. This picture is released under CC Licence. Please see CC Licence for more information.


The earthquake as it was recorded on my Skeiðflöt geophone station. This picture is released under CC Licence. Please see CC Licence for more information.


The earthquake as it was recorded on Eyrarbakki geophone station. This geophone is closest to the earthquake swarm. But is noisy. This picture is released under CC Licence. Please see CC Licence for more information.


The earthquake seen on Heklubyggð geophone station. This picture is released under CC Licence. Please see CC Licence for more information.

Earthquake activity in this area of SISZ is ongoing, and shows no signs of slowing down at the moment. This earthquake swarm started about 3 weeks ago. But has mostly been making minor earthquakes. But that are earthquakes with the magnitude of 0.0 to 2.0. It is impossible to know for how long this earthquake swarm is going to continue in this area of SISZ.

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Earthquake activity in Katla volcano and on SISZ

It has been quiet for the past weeks in Iceland. I do not know if that is changing. But this is the short update of what has been taking place in Iceland earthquake wise during this quiet period.

Katla volcano

Since Katla volcano earthquake spike in late April to middle of June. Sine then it has been rather quiet in June and what has passed of July. Today and yesterday there has been some earthquake activity in Katla volcano. But nothing like was seen in April to June.


Earthquake activity in Katla volcano during past few days. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

South Icelandic Seismic Zone (SISZ)

Intresting earthquake activity has been taking place in South Icelandic Seismic Zone for few days now. Currently the activity is on the northern end of the fault that broke in the year 2008. This is most likely just an earthquake swarm in the fault area that is continuing to adjust after the Mw6.3 earthquake in the year 2008.


Earthquake activity on SISZ during the past few days and hours. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

As for SISZ. This is just an earthquake activity. There is no volcano activity in this area of Iceland. But SISZ is a fault zone that moves N-S (W-E compared to Reykjavík). So with every major earthquake on SISZ, it is slowly moving south as the new rift zone (Iceland East rift zone) moves south at the same time. This is a slow progress. Takes millions of years and has been ongoing for million of years already.