Day: October 6, 2016

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Katla volcano update at 20:10 UTC

Here goes Katla volcano again.

Earthquake activity in Katla volcano has been slowly increasing today (06-October-2016). It is not yet at the levels as it was week ago, but as Katla showed last week this change can happen rapidly and without much warning. Largest earthquake since this morning had the magnitude of 2,4 at 14:11 UTC. Other earthquakes so far have been smaller in magnitude. Other earthquakes have been smaller in magnitude.

161006_1855
The earthquake activity in Katla volcano at 18:55 UTC. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

The fact that current earthquake swarm is in a really tight location suggests that a dyke intrusion is possibly trying to drill its way out up through the crust at this location. I did see something similar before Bárðarbunga volcano erupted. It is not possible to know how long this process takes, since the crust is different between volcanoes. Then there is always the question if this process stops, at this moment I find that doubtful due how long its been going already. I’m expecting the earthquake activity in Katla volcano to increase until a new peak is reached or an eruption starts. Currently no eruption has started.

This article is going to be updated as needed.

Off-line warning

Due to hurricane Matthews there is a risk of this website going off-line from tomorrow as the hurricane hits Florida and Orlando, where this website is hosted. I will take a backup of it later today just in case. At worst some comments might be lost and even some articles (if I update the website after I take my backup).

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Please remember to support my [Iceland geology] work with donations

Running this website over the past few years has bee a lot of work, since the activity in Iceland in 2011 has been higher than anyone expected. This means that I spend a lot of time watching and seeing if anything is going on, both when it comes to Icelandic volcanoes. This is hard work and I spend a lot of hours working, most of this work is just trying to figure out what is going on and analyse data if I can.

If you can, please remember to support my work with donations. If for some reason you can’t use the PayPal button I have this two other options available on the Donation website. Using the Amazon advertisement to buy also helps, its just a little slower then direction donations.

Thanks for the support. 🙂

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Increase in earthquake activity in Katla volcano

Today (6-October-2016) a magnitude 3,2 earthquake took place in Katla volcano. This earthquake had smaller earthquake activity before it happened and after it took place. Currently bad weather in the Katla volcano area is preventing detection of the smallest earthquakes. That bad weather is going to last at least until tomorrow and then a new storm might arrive few hours later.

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The earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Heavy rain in south Iceland has prevented a good reading on conductivity in Múlakvísl glacier river. Since freshwater mixing into the glacier water results in drop of conductivity with increase amount of water. This has also resulted in some glacier quake activity in Mýrdalsjökull glacier.

Off-line warning

Due to hurricane Matthews there is a risk of this website going off-line from tomorrow as the hurricane hits Florida and Orlando, where this website is hosted. I will take a backup of it later today just in case. At worst some comments might be lost and even some articles (if I update the website after I take my backup).