Smallest of eruptions so far (Bárðarbunga update at 20:43 UTC)

This is a short update and this information might go outdated quickly.

It appears that the eruption that took place in Bárðarbunga volcano was a minor one. It also looks like that the eruption was so small that it didn’t even make dent in the glacier on top of it, but the glacier in this area is around 400 meters thick. Such minor eruptions are not common in Iceland, but they do happen once in a while.

140823_1940
Earthquake activity today (23-August-2014) in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Largest earthquake today had the magnitude of 4,5 (EMSC information here) – 4,7 (USGS). Other earthquakes that have taken place today have been smallers, few earthquakes with magnitude above 3,0 also took place today.

dyn.svd.23.08.2014.at.19.59.utc
The harmonic tremor that took place in Bárðarbunga volcano today. It makes a clear mark from the other magma movement that has been taking place during the past week. This is Dyngjuháls SIL station. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

kre.svd.23.08.2014.at.20.00.utc
This harmonic tremor was also visible on Kreppuhraun SIL stations. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

DYNC_3mrap.svd.23.08.2014.at.19.00.utc
GPS data showing current inflation on Dyngjuhjáls. More plots can be found here. Copyright of this image belongs to University of Iceland.

Current GPS data show that inflation to the north has stopped, while inflation to the west has increased and up to 2 to 3 cm a day based on newest GPS data. This means that more magma is flowing into the dyke on 5 to 10 km depth. The dyke continues to extent, but now it is moving more north rather then north-east as before.

The eruption that took place today was a minor one. I am not even sure it lasted a whole hour, but since it was under a 400 meter thick glacier that is only guess work on my end based on tremor data that I have. This might however not be the last eruption in Bárðarbunga volcano, far from it. Short eruptions like this one might happen on regular basis now in Bárðarbunga volcano and not all of them are going to take place under glacier in my view.

Possible eruption in Bárðarbunga volcano

This is early information and it might be wrong! Eruption might not be taking place and this might be a trick of magma movement underground. It is hard to be sure in this case until a visual confirmation is in place.

It appears that an eruption is about to start or has started in Bárðarbunga volcano. The harmonic tremor is going trough the roof at this moment.

dyn.svd.23.08.2014.at.11.09.utc
Harmonic tremor is going in Dyngjuháls SIL station at 11:09 UTC. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

kre.svd.23.08.2014.at.11.10.utc
Harmonic tremor is also going up at Kreppuhraun SIL station. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

mko.svd.23.08.2014.at.11.10.utc
Harmonic tremor is also going up at Mókollar SIL station at 11:10 UTC. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is unclear what is going on at this moment. Nothing has been confirmed yet when this text is written. This might not be an eruption at this point in time, but that might change without warning at any time.