Earthquake swarm in Bárðarbunga volcano (Week 09)

Bárðarbunga volcano continues it earthquake activity and it has now been a year since the eruption in Bárðarbunga volcano ended in Holuhraun (article I wrote about it can be found here). This activity (image) took place on 2-March-2016.

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The earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Green stars are earthquake with magnitude above 3,0. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

Largest earthquakes in this swarm had the magnitude of 3,1, 3,3 and 3,6. Other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude. The reason for this earthquake swarm seems to be a developing weakness in the north and western part of the caldera. Activity in south part of the caldera seems to be crust adjustment to this weakness (stress changes). The weakest area is long one (I didn’t find information on how large the caldera is, but it is large). This weakness is going to continue to develop until an eruption happens or the magma finds it self a new path and that is more likely than an eruption taking place in the caldera rim, however I cannot rule out an eruption in the caldera at this point. This is all just wait and see situation at the moment. Interesting earthquake also took place in Hamarinn volcano, it had the depth of 13 km and magnitude of 0,7.

Deep earthquakes also took place in Tungnafellsjökull volcano. That earthquake had the magnitude of 0,8 but depth of 17,9 km. Suggesting that some stress changes at depth are taking place. In this case I doubt magma created the earthquake.

If an ash eruptions takes place in Bárðarbunga volcano, the resulting ash fall would be devastating (besides the following glacier flood). Last time larger eruption took place in 1477 half of Iceland got covered in volcano ash (that’s 50% of land), the volcano ash eruption in 1711 covered north Iceland and large parts of east Iceland. In 1711 to 1729 total of nine glacier floods took place and the source of them is believed to be Bárðarbunga volcano. Glacier floods from other volcanoes (Grímsfjall, Kverkfjöll, Þórðarhyrna, Hamarinn) are also highly dangerous. The volcano ash had thickness up to 100 meters next to the eruption area in 1477 (see map in link 1).

Source 1: Hvaða tjón gæti mögulega hlotist af gosi í Bárðarbungu? (Icelandic)
Source 2: Hvað eru mörg gos þekkt í Bárðarbungu og hefur orðið mikið tjón af þeim? (has gravity map of Vatnajökull glacier, Icelandic)

Please remember to support my work (donations for March specially needed)

I put a lot of work into this website. It mostly happens when something is going on in Iceland, earthquake swarm or an eruption. But between those times things are quiet in Iceland the traffic to this website drops down to few thousands of page views a day.

Donations needed for March

I was hoping to keep things decent in March, but that didn’t work out properly since things cost in Iceland. I am also trying to save for transport cost of my belongings back to Denmark from Iceland. I say trying because I don’t think its going well at the moment. Money wise I hope that things are getting better for me, at least part of my debt is getting lower at the moment, while I had to increase it other areas (a little, not a big problem in the long run). My biggest problem in past few days is the fact my computer died and I had to replace it (I just buy the motherboard, cpu, memory and video card. I also had to buy new dvd drive, old one had died last summer). That was expensive, even if I choose as cheap computer parts as possible, leaving me with a budget hole unexpectedly when it comes to my transport costs of my belonging. I’m now trying to figure out a way to cover the transport costs without any problem. It is going to be a tricky thing to do on my low income, but I think its mostly doable. Any support in that direction is welcomed, along with support to help me survive March without running out money for food (since I really dislike using my savings for food).

I wish my financial situation was better then it currently is. I’ve been trying to make progress and I have made progress, but it is slow, but improvements are being made. Once I’m back in Denmark the financial situation is going to remain a little difficult, but it is going to improve with time and effort on my part to improve it. The thing also is that many websites and youtube channels ask for donations (many also have sponsors) so they can make more content for people to watch. When I write about earthquake swarms, or the latest activity in volcanoes in Iceland, or posting updates every hour or two when an eruption takes place (that is hard work).

Plans in the works

I am looking into that to create a website about technology. That would cover computers (PC), mobile phones, televisions and other thoughts on that matter. Currently I am only looking into it to see if that pays off, or if I should find something else to write about when things are quiet in Iceland. Increasing my range might increase my income (maybe not). Since I am also good with technology of all types and size, since I’ve been doing that for as long as I’ve been working and thinking about earthquakes and volcanoes.

Book writing

I am also going to continue to write books and short stories. Since I just can’t be without it. I’m not sure when next short story comes out on Amazon, but I am working on few stories, both short and long in my head.

Moving back to Denmark

I’ll be moving back to Denmark on 14th April. That makes me happy. More details on this later. The Bov geophone station is going to start operation soon after 14th April, not sure on exact dates at the moment.