Month: July 2017

Posted on

Glacier flood from Mýrdalsjökull glacier is over (Katla volcano)

Icelandic Met Office announced that this morning that the glacier flood from Mýrdalsjökull glacier is now over. No earthquakes have been detected in Katla volcano during the last 12 hours. Conductivity is now going back to normal levels.


Earthquake activity in Katla volcano during the last 48 hours. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Colour code level of Katla volcano remains at yellow level and won’t be changed to green until sometimes next week. While this glacier flood is over Katla volcano has shown that activity can start again without warning. For now Katla volcano is quiet and no glacier flood happening.

Posted on

Katla volcano update article of 29-July-2017

This article is going to be updated as activity continues in Katla volcano today on 29-July-2017. If an eruption starts (big one) a new article is going to be written for that event.

Overview of the activity during the night and today

It seems that during the night a minor eruption took place (this is just my view). This based on harmonic tremor pulse that appeared in Katla volcano after midnight, the source of the activity seems to be north-west part of the caldera. Possibly where a magnitude 3,0 earthquake had taken place at 00:48 UTC. Harmonic tremor remains unstable and above background levels, at the moment however it seems that current harmonic tremor when this is written is due to glacier flood pushing it self from under the glacier. The water that is moving under the glacier is few hours away from (at best) from appearing in glacier rivers that come from Katla volcano.


The earthquake activity in Katla volcano during the last 48 hours. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


Harmonic tremor in Austmannsbunga in Katla volcano at 12:09 UTC. It clearly shows the minor eruption and ongoing harmonic tremor pulse. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


Harmonic tremor in Austmannsbunga in Katla volcano at 13:04 UTC. This image shows ongoing activity in the tremor. This is mostly high frequency tremor and that is interesting. What that is not known. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


Harmonic tremor in Goðabunga at 12:09 UTC. It clearly shows the night minor eruption and ongoing harmonic tremor. The harmonic tremor is however a lot less visible now on Goðabunga. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


Harmonic tremor as it appears on Rjúpnafell (SIL station). This station is at more distance from the source of the harmonic tremor pulse and shows a weaker signal as a result. The night minor eruption is also clear on this SIL station but current harmonic tremor is less visible, it does appear but at much lower level. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Katla volcano has been moved to yellow alert. It is now possible to watch the glacier flood live from here (Rúv.is). Currently the glacier flood is getting smaller, but that might only be a temporarily thing if more water is on its way from Mýrdalsjökull glacier. There has also been a drop in conductivity for now in Múlavísk glacier river.

Announcement in English on Rúv

People advised to stay away from Múlakvísl (Rúv.is)

This article is going to be updated as needed today.

Posted on

Glacier flood confirmed from Mýrdalsjökull glacier

It was confirmed at around 22:00 UTC that a small glacier flood has now started from Mýrdalsjökull glacier (Katla volcano). At the moment the glacier flood is small. It is unclear if this glacier flood is going to remain small and run it course as it is or if it is going to increase in next few hours. Reports have been coming of strong sulphur smell in the area of Múlakvísl on Mýrdalssand area (desert area south of Mýrdalsjökull glacier).

Civil protection authority in Iceland have closed down few tourist roads and limited access to certain areas for time being due to this glacier flood. I strongly recommend that people follow those closers since change can happen in Katla volcano without warning and the closer people are to the volcano the less time they have to get away from it if an eruption starts.

This article is going to be updated as needed.

Posted on

Update on Reykjanes peninsula earthquake swarm (Fagradalsfjall mountain)

Since 26-July-2017 there has been a earthquake swarm on Reykjanes peninsula close to a mountain called Fagradalsfjall. This earthquake swarm has been one of the larger ones in the area in recent years. Total number of earthquakes that have been detected so far is well over 600 at the writing of this article. There is some magma involved in this earthquake swarm, it has stayed deep in the crust and there are currently no signs of it moving upwards more then it already has at this point. This makes an eruption extremely unlikely, unlike what some news reports about this earthquake swarm might suggest an eruption is not imminent in this area of Iceland.


Earthquake activity close to Fagradalsfjall mountain for the last 48 hours. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Largest earthquake during the last 24 hours is a magnitude 3,2 earthquake that took place at 05:56 UTC. In 1968 a magnitude 6,0 earthquake took place in this same area. I don’t know if that is going to happen now, what is a risk is this earthquake swarm increasing again from current drop in activity. This area is in part a rift valley and plate interaction can get complicated and last for a long time. With quiet period between high periods of activity. At this moment the earthquake activity in this area is decreasing, that does not mean it is over yet, just that a decreasing in activity is currently happening.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. It helps me keep this website running and to report on activity in Iceland. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Posted on

Increased risk of glacier flood from Mýrdalsjökull glacier (Katla volcano)

Icelandic Met Office has issued a warning about increased risk of glacier flood from Múlakvísl that comes from Mýrdalsjökull glacier (the glacier on top of Katla volcano). Upon checking reports about increased smell and detecting higher conductivity on sensors, police in the area have confirmed with Icelandic Met Office that unusual high amount of water is in the river at the moment.

Currently conductivity in Múlakvísl is 290μS/cm and is stable at the moment. This suggest that a cauldron is about to empty it self of melt water and resulting in a glacier flood.

It is possible to monitor conditions in Múlakvísl here on Icelandic Met Office website.

I will update this article as needed.

Posted on

Magnitude 4,5 earthquake in Katla volcano

Today at 22:18 UTC (26-July-2017) a earthquake with the magnitude of 4,5 took place in Katla volcano. A earlier earthquake happened at 22:15 UTC and it had the magnitude of 3,2. The magnitude 4,5 earthquake was felt in Vík í Mýrdal and nearby area.


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

A considerable number of smaller earthquakes have been happening in the last hour. There is nothing at the moment that suggest an eruption is about to happen. There is no magma signature on the tremor plot at the moment. With total of 55 earthquakes having happened in Katla volcano over the last 48 hours.

Update 28-July-2017

Current 24 hours have been quiet in Katla volcano with no major earthquake activity taking place at the moment. This is normal and was also observed last year when a sudden increase in earthquake activity took place.

Here is a over-view of that activity, from earliest earthquakes on 29-August-2016 until 29-September-2016. More articles can be found on Katla volcano activity during that time period just by searching. This are the articles when the most activity took place.

Katla volcano earthquake activity update (29-August-2016)
Magnitude 3,9 earthquake in Katla volcano (25-September-2016)
Heavy earthquake activity in Katla volcano, high conductivity in glacier rivers (29-September-2016)
Katla volcano update at 10:48 UTC (30-September-2016)

This article is going to be updated as needed.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Article updated on 28-July-2016 at 00:26 UTC.

Posted on

Strong earthquake swarm on Reykjanes peninsula

Currently there is a strong earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes peninsula. Largest earthquake so far was a magnitude 4,0 with second largest earthquake having magnitude of 3,8. This earthquake swarm is currently ongoing. Over 150 earthquakes have been detected so far (this number is going to get obsolete soon).


The earthquake swarm on Reykjanes peninsula at 15:10 UTC. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


The earthquake swarm is highly active at the moment. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

According to the Icelandic Met Office (news at 12:20, Rúv) this earthquake swarm is a mixture of tectonic forces and magnetic (magma) forces in the ground. It is currently too early to know if this is going to result in a eruption.

Update 1 at 00:04 – 27-July-2017

Over 300 earthquakes have happened so far on the Reykjanes peninsula. Largest earthquake so far had the magnitude of 3,8 and second largest had the magnitude of 3,3.


Earthquake activity remains heavy on Reykjanes peninsula. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


Earthquake activity is heavy as is shown here. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Earthquake activity is ongoing and strong when this is written.

This article is going to be updated as needed.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. It helps me writing articles like this one about current event taking place in Iceland. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Article updated at 00:04 UTC on 27-July-2017.

Posted on

Earthquake activity in Katla volcano

On Friday 22-July-2017 and on Saturday 23-July-2017 earthquake swarm activity took place inside Katla volcano caldera. Largest earthquake on Friday 22-July was magnitude 3,1 and on Saturday a magnitude 3,2 earthquake took place. Before and after the main earthquakes a swarm of smaller earthquakes took place.


The earthquake activity in Katla volcano during the last 48 hours. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Interesting earthquake activity has been appearing in the south-west part of the caldera. That area had a minor eruption in 1999 (lasted for ~6 hours maybe). This is directly above Sólheimajökul glacier (tourist attraction). Currently Katla volcano is quiet but that can change without warning given recent history of earthquake activity in the volcano.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. It helps me to keep writing here and to keep this website going. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Posted on

Magnitude 3,1 earthquake in Krýsuvík volcano

During the night of 15-July-2017 a magnitude 3,1 earthquake took place in Krýsuvík volcano. This earthquake does not seems to be connected to the volcano it self, rather the tectonic forces that are common in the Reykjanes rift zone that runs in this area with many fault lines.


Activity in Krýsuvík volcano for the last 48 hours. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Other earthquakes that happened in this swarm had smaller magnitude. It also appears that this earthquake swarm is over. Earthquake swarm like this one are common in this area, it has been quiet for past few months and that is perfectly normal too, since last major earthquake activity happened in Krýsuvík in the year 2000 (several magnitude 5,0 earthquakes) and several magnitude 4,0 earthquakes in the year 2008 following major earthquake activity in SISZ.

Donations

Please remember to support my work. It helps me to keep working on this website and writing updates about activity in Iceland. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Posted on

Earthquake swarm in Katla volcano yesterday (13-July-2017)

Yesterday (13-July-2017) an earthquake swarm took place in Katla volcano. As earthquake swarms goes this one was minor one and largest magnitude was only 2,7 all other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude.


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

One magnitude 2,5 earthquake happened today (14-July-2017) at 16:29 UTC. Since then everything has been quiet in Katla volcano. This current repeating earthquake pattern is starting to look like long term signs that Katla volcano is going to erupt soon. How long is not known, but it is my best guess that an eruption might happen either this fall or next year (2018). It is not possible to get any better idea how long it might be until an eruption happens in Katla volcano.

Update 1 (July-15 earthquake activity)

At 19:12 UTC on 15-July-2017 a magnitude 3,3 earthquake took place in Katla volcano. Earthquakes that followed where smaller in magnitude, with only one having magnitude 2,8 today (16-July-2017) at 10:51 UTC. I was unable to record it due to high noise level on my geophone.


The earthquake activity in Katla volcano during last 48 hours. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Earthquake activity has quieted down again for now in Katla volcano.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. At the moment I’m completely broke and this is going to be a problem for me until the end of this year (2017). I hope this going to be a less of a problem first part of 2018 and I hope to have no problem at all in the second half of 2018. I also need to get paid for my work like anyone else and on the internet that is only done by donations and advertising income. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Article updated at 22:22 UTC on 16-July-2017. New information added.