Month: May 2019

Posted on

Earthquake swarm south of Kolbeinsey island

Yesterday (27-May-2019) an earthquake swarm took place south of Kolbeinsey island, but this earthquake swarm is in Tjörnes Fracture Zone (TFZ). Largest earthquake had a magnitude of 3,5 at 01:35 UTC. Second largest earthquake had a magnitude of 3,1 and took place at 06:57 UTC. Other earthquakes in this earthquake swarm were smaller in magnitude.


The earthquake swarm in Tjörnes Fracture Zone (green stars). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It appears that this earthquake swarm is over for now. It might start again without warning since earthquake activity in Tjörnes Facture Zone is unpredictable.

Donations

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

Banner advertisements

I am going to add advertisement back to the website so I can at least get some extra income from this website when I don’t get any donations. This are going to be Amazon advertisements since I don’t have Google Adsense due to their now strict rules on doing things. Thanks for the understanding. This also applies to my earthquake monitoring website.

Posted on

Magnitude 8,0 earthquake in Peru

Today (26-May-2019) at 07:41 UTC (02:41 local time) a magnitude 8,0 earthquake took place in Peru. The depth of this earthquake is 109 km to 130 km. It was felt up to 1700 km from its epicentre. This magnitude and depth might change over the next few days to weeks as the earthquake data is studied in more details. USGS information about this earthquake is here. EMSC information about this earthquake is here.


The earthquake as it appeared on my geophone in Böðvarshólar, Iceland.


The webicorder trance of the earthquake in Böðvarshólar, Iceland.


The webicorder trace of the earthquake as it appeared in Dellukot, Iceland. I do not have access to this station due to technical difficulties.

This earthquake resulted in a damage in Peru even if it was at depth of 109 km to 130 km. The general rule is that an aftershock of one magnitude lower can be expected in next few days to weeks. This means a magnitude 6,5 to 7,5 aftershock might happen in northern part of Peru in next few days to weeks.

Donations

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

If you donate by bank please update your information here. Since I am moving back to Denmark from September (I hope). I have switched the bank back to Denmark. Information can be found here. The Icelandic bank account that I was using has been closed.

Posted on

Earthquake swarm north of Kolbeinsey island

Yesterday (22-May-2019) at 15:47 UTC a magnitude 3,4 earthquake took place around 12 km north of Kolbeinsey Island. This earthquake was part of a small swarm in this area yesterday. It appears to be over but there is a risk of more activity in this area. Due to distance from the coastline and next populated island this earthquake was not felt.


Earthquake north of Kolbeinsey island (green star north of Iceland). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Earthquake swarms happen in this area frequently. This is not part of the TFZ but borders it just a little south of this earthquake activity.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. They help me to keep everything going. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Added

If you donate with a bank please update your information. I have changed the bank information again in April and the new information can be found here. The Icelandic bank account that I have been using is going to be closed soon.

Personal note

I have added a personal note on what is going on with me in the comments. It explains why I changed my mind on moving back to Denmark and other issues that I’ve been dealing with in recent months.

Updated at 13:45 UTC. Added updated information about bank donations.
Updated at 14:11 UTC. Added updated information about bank donations.

Posted on

Earthquake activity on the Reykjanes ridge

This morning at 10:57 UTC (21-May-2019) a magnitude 3,1 earthquake took place around 7 km west of Geirfugladrangi (a rock). This earthquake was part of a small earthquake swarm in this area. Several magnitude 1,1 to 1,7 earthquakes took place in this location. Since 13:44 UTC the area has been quiet, due to distance from the coastline and the SIL network it is possible that more earthquakes have happened than are being recorded.


Earthquake activity on Reykjanes ridge. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This is most likely rift zone earthquake activity rather than a volcano related earthquake activity. Earthquake activity is common in this area of the Reykjanes ridge.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. Donations help me keep this website going since I am almost advertisement free. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Posted on

Increased activity in Askja volcano

After more than a month of no noticeable earthquake activity in Iceland there is finally something new to report. It remains quiet in Iceland and most earthquake activity today is just small earthquakes in the magnitude range of 0,0 – 2,8.

This is only my view and might not be the same as views of professional scientists that monitor volcanoes as their job.

Askja volcano has started showing clear signs that an eruption might happen in near future. When that might happen is impossible to know, but given recent history this might happen in 18 to 48 months time from writing of this article. It might also be a considerable longer time until a eruption happens. Current sequence of activity started in 2011 so its already been ongoing for a considerable long period of time.


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

In recent months Askja volcano has been showing signs of increased earthquake activity. This is mostly small earthquakes with magnitude from 0,0 to 3,0 in magnitude. Located in small swarms that appear at random location within the volcano. There are quiet time period in this earthquake activity as is normal.

An eruption in Askja volcano is not a major risk to flight in Iceland or Europe. Since if an eruption happens it is going to be lava fissure eruption similar to what erupted in Bárðarbunga volcano in Holuhraun 2014 to 2015. That eruption might also have increased the speed of when Askja volcano is going to erupt. Since the dike intrusion from Bárðarbunga volcano almost started an eruption in Askja volcano, it was only two to three days from happening but stopped in its track before it happened. That might have put Askja volcano on a path of unsuitability that might now be starting to show in increased earthquake activity.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. They help me keep everything working and paying the bills. Thanks for the support. 🙂