Month: December 2016

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I wish everyone a happy new year 2017

I wish everyone a happy new year 2017 and I hope that year is good, with not too many up and downs. I have had a difficult year in 2016, with loosing my grandpa (on my father side, he was 85 years old and lost to cancer) and my step-father (57 years old) in a single year. The recovery is slow, but it is going to happen. As everything that hurts one in a sufficient way, this is going to leave a scar that is going to fade over time, but that is going to happen slowly over decades, not years.

I can’t say that for my parts that 2016 was a good year for me. I hope for that reason the year 2017 is going to be a better one. At least I can hope so. With that I wish everyone a happy new year 2017 and I hope that people can make the best of out if it, regardless what happens in next 365 days.

Article schedule

December 31: No new articles unless a major earthquake swarm or eruption happens.
January 1, 2017: Same as above.
January 2, 2017: Normal schedule if anything happens.

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Earthquake activity in Katla caldera

On Monday 26-December-2016 (second day of Christmas) a magnitude 3,3 earthquake happened in Katla volcano. This was the largest earthquake that day. Following this earthquake a few dozen smaller earthquakes have been taking place, the last ones in the past few hours on 27-December-2016. The largest of those earthquakes had a magnitude of 1,6.


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

There has been some fluctuation in the conductivity of Múlakvísl for the last few days. Not all of it might be due to magma related matter getting into the glacier river (at least not new material). The bad weather is moving old volcano ash and sand and some of it is falling into the nearby glacier rivers and increasing conductivity. Along with old material melting off the glacier in the sudden heat that has been going on in Iceland for the past few hours.

Storm warning

Please be aware that if you are in Iceland that a storm is about to hit Iceland and it appears to be rather bad. It is going to start to get colder in the next few hours and start to snow again after the sudden heatwave that happened in Iceland for the last 24 hours. This means closed roads, impassible roads, heavy snow falling down and other problems that come with this type of weather. This storm is not expected to end until 29-December and then a new storm might happen. Good weather is not expected until 30-December-2016 or 31-December.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations or by using the Amazon advertisement that I have here. Thanks for the support. 🙂

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I wish everyone a happy Christmas

I wish everyone a happy Christmas. I hope that people have it good over the holidays.

Post schedule

Here is the schedule for the next few days.

24-December-2016: No new articles unless a major earthquake swarm or an eruption happens.
25-December-2016: Same as above.
26-December-2016: Same as above.
27-December-2016: Normal schedule if anything happens.

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Minor earthquake swarm in Bárðarbunga volcano

This morning a earthquake swarm started in Bárðarbunga volcano. This earthquake swarm started at 03:31 UTC and lasted until 03:35 UTC when a small break happened, the earthquake swarm resumed at 09:35 UTC with two earthquakes. Those two earthquakes had the magnitude of 3,0 and 3,1.


The earthquake swarm in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

On Monday (19-December-2016) a swarm of deep earthquake took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. Suggesting that new magma got injected into the volcano from deep within the mantle (~100 – 200 km depth). This type of pattern has appeared before and it can be expected to happen again.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. That allows me to keep working on this website and continue to write about earthquakes and volcanoes in Iceland. Thanks for the support. 🙂

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Please remember to support my work with donations

Like everything “free” on the internet, I need to have income from my work in order to pay my bills, for the hosting, electricity at the home, the rent and the list goes on and on. Running a website is not free, it takes time and a lot of effort to run a good informative website.

Since the year 2012 I’ve been dealing with a bit of financial problem. Due to debt and low income of social welfare I’ve been having problem keepings things in proper balance in terms of financially, I have normally just worked with it in a such way that I delay things, like delaying the failing hard drive on my computer or going to the dentist (they are really expensive). What has kept me a float for the past few years are donations from people that read my articles and the work I put into it. The low income has kept in a state of debt, I’m far from happy about it since debt cost a lot of money that I would like to spend on other things (like upgrading the server for this website).

When I got to Iceland few days ago I had to buy a new laptop, the original explanation is below (saves me from writing it up again).

—- From 14-December-2016 —-

Few weeks ago I got a hardware donation (as always, I’m thankful for the support), a laptop from 2009 that was in used condition. Unfortunately that laptop had faults that made it unusable for me, faults that I’m sure previous owners did not know of, but made it such that I was unable to use it when I travel. So I have now bought a new laptop at the price of 748,83€ (89.950,00 ISK). The problem is that my attempt to get a loan failed, since I’m living in Denmark (new system based on new laws targeted at payday loan companies that appeared in Iceland after the recession in 2008) and the new system does not allow for a loan payments (besides bank) for Icelanders living outside Iceland. My business bank in Iceland helped me buying the computer, since without the computer I cannot work (writing about volcanoes in Iceland and other things). The main problem starts in January-2017 on how to pay for the computer (and buy food and pay all the bills at the same time, I’m working on a solution in the case I can’t pay it all at once [current chance of that is 98%]). If people want to help me with this hardware buying they can do so with donation, since I plan to let as much of donation as I can go up to this payment (debt) until it is paid down. Thanks for the support. ?

Note: Currently I’m having money issue (since 2012 actually due to interactions of many issues and problems), since hardware has been failing due to old age in the last few weeks and months. There is not much I can do about but to respond to it best to my abilities and those abilities are limited at the moment. I have a plan to resolve this debt issue by 2018 (majority of it) and the rest in 2019 and 2020 if needed.

——

I got some donations (thanks!), but that only covered less than half of what the laptop did cost me. It helps, but I still have a lot to pay in February when the payment is due (at the earliest). I’ve like to pay the whole thing soon as possible. Along with trying to solve my other money issue. But one thing at the time, first I need to pay for the laptop. What the laptop does is to allow me to work while I’m not home and keep this website updated as needed.

People are free to donate if they can. I understand that fully if people can’t afford to support my work, since I’m far from being the only broke person in the world today. Those how don’t want to use PayPal can donate directly, information for direct donations can be found here.

Thanks for the support. 🙂

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Earthquake activity close to Grenivík (TFZ/Dalvík Fault-line area)

At 09:41 UTC on 19-December-2016 a small earthquake swarm started on the Dalvík fault-line, that fault-line is part of TFZ (Tjörnes Fracture Zone area). The largest earthquake was felt over a wide area, including Akureyri and other nearby towns. Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 3,5 and the second largest earthquake had the magnitude of 1,6. The largest earthquake depth was 12,3 km.


The green star show the active area. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

When this text is written it seem that the earthquake activity has dropped down, just one earthquake has happened since the activity stopped at 09:49 UTC. Current level of activity is low and that might remain like that.

Donation

Please remember to support my work with donations. Please see also article that I wrote on 14-December on my problems regarding buying a new laptop so I can write new articles when I’m travelling. Thanks for the support. 🙂

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Short earthquake swarm in Katla volcano

On 17-December-2016 a small earthquake swarm took place in Katla volcano. Only few earthquakes took place and the largest had the magnitude of 3,3 and the second largest earthquake had the magnitude of 2,1. Other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude.


The green star shows the magnitude 3,3 earthquake in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake swarm only lasted for ~30 minutes. It was also slightly south-west of 15-December earthquake swarm, this is the most activity I have seen in Katla volcano in December since I started watching the volcano in 2001 (around that year). All that can be done for the moment is to continue to watch the activity in Katla volcano. Since it’s not possible to know when a eruption is going to take place.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. As I explained in the article on the 16-December I bought a new laptop so that I can work while I’m travelling. I was unable to get a loan for it in Iceland (and Denmark) so I bought it outright without having a good plan on how to pay it fully (working on that problem with a help from my bank). Thanks for the support. 🙂

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Earthquake swarm in Katla volcano

Today (15-December-2016) a minor earthquake swarm took place in Katla volcano. Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 2,0. Other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude. Due to bad weather in Iceland at the moment the sensitivity of the SIL network is less than on a quiet wind day.


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

This earthquake started around 12 hours after the magnitude 3,4 earthquake that took place in Katla volcano yesterday. It is difficult to know for sure if those events are connected, that might be, but without some study into this swarm its a question that I don’t have an answer to. This earthquake swarm is located almost directly in Austmannsbunga in Katla volcano caldera (SIL station with the same name is close to this location). This earthquake swarm was not strong in magnitude of earthquakes, but it was considerable in number of earthquakes that happened in Katla volcano today.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations and deal with the issue of buying new laptop so I can work while I’m on the move. Details can be found in yesterday article here. Thanks for the support. 🙂

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Magnitude 3,4 earthquake in Katla volcano

Today (14-December-2016) at 14:31 UTC a magnitude 3,4 earthquake took place in Katla volcano. No other earthquakes took place following this earthquake.


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

This is just a single earthquake, it is difficult to know why it happened without any other activity also taking place. Far as I know, not much has actually changed since Katla volcano begin to warm up for an eruption in August (this is my view only). This is even if the earthquake activity has slowed down in last few weeks, since that can happen sometimes in a volcano (why that happens is not known far as I know).

Donations

Few weeks ago I got a hardware donation (as always, I’m thankful for the support), a laptop from 2009 that was in used condition. Unfortunately that laptop had faults that made it unusable for me, faults that I’m sure previous owners did not know of, but made it such that I was unable to use it when I travel. So I have now bought a new laptop at the price of 748,83€ (89.950,00 ISK). The problem is that my attempt to get a loan failed, since I’m living in Denmark (new system based on new laws targeted at payday loan companies that appeared in Iceland after the recession in 2008) and the new system does not allow for a loan payments (besides bank) for Icelanders living outside Iceland. My business bank in Iceland helped me buying the computer, since without the computer I cannot work (writing about volcanoes in Iceland and other things). The main problem starts in January-2017 on how to pay for the computer (and buy food and pay all the bills at the same time, I’m working on a solution in the case I can’t pay it all at once [current chance of that is 98%]). If people want to help me with this hardware buying they can do so with donation, since I plan to let as much of donation as I can go up to this payment (debt) until it is paid down. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Note: Currently I’m having money issue (since 2012 actually due to interactions of many issues and problems), since hardware has been failing due to old age in the last few weeks and months. There is not much I can do about but to respond to it best to my abilities and those abilities are limited at the moment. I have a plan to resolve this debt issue by 2018 (majority of it) and the rest in 2019 and 2020 if needed.

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Strong earthquake swarm in Bárðarbunga volcano

During the night of 12-December-2016 a earthquake swarm took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. This earthquake activity happens because the volcano is inflating currently after period of deflation during the eruption from August-2014 to Februar-2015. As before, most of earthquake activity happens in the north-east part of the caldera. Why that is the case is not known to me at the moment.


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

The earthquake swarm lasted for about ~1 hour this time around. Slower and smaller earthquake swarm has been going on for the past ~10 days in Bárðarbunga volcano. I call those “slow earthquake swarm” [not a scientific term], they are more difficult to detect, but they often happen (but I have not yet seen them mentioned in any science papers yet, so this is just my personal view). Largest magnitudes in this earthquake swarm where 3,9 (04:10), 3,8 (04:24), 4,2 (04:29). Other earthquakes where smaller in this swarm.

This earthquake activity is due to the fact that magma is flowing into Bárðarbunga volcano magma chamber at depth (~10 km) and inflating the volcano after it collapsed during the eruption 2014 – 2015. This inflation is faster then anyone expected I suspect, since after the eruption ended in February-2015 it was expected that Bárðarbunga volcano would be quiet for a long time after such large eruption. That has not happened, even if no new eruption has happened so far.

It is not possible to know when next eruption happens or where it is going to happen. Deep earthquakes have been happening under Trölladyngja, suggesting magma movements under that area. Last two eruptions in Trölladyngja took place in the year 5000 BCE and 7100 BCE (GVP information), that means eruption can happen again in this shield volcano (inside Bárðarbunga volcano fissure swarm). There are many other locations that eruptions can happened, at the moment it is expected that possible next eruptions continue to happen north east of Bárðarbunga volcano, close to Holuhraun lava field or in that direction. It is good to remember that if the magma cannot go to the sides, its either going to stay in its place or if the pressure is high enough, it is going to go straight up along the caldera fault line. Hydrothermal activity on the rims of Bárðarbunga volcano caldera suggests that this has already happened and magma now sits at ~1 km depth already. It just didn’t erupt during the last eruption sequence in 2014 – 2015 (it at least has not yet been confirmed).

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations, it helps me running this website and work on updating about the activity in Iceland. Thanks for the support. 🙂