Day: July 19, 2020

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Earthquake swarm in the Reykjanes volcano

Over the last few hours there has been an earthquake swarm close to mountain called Fagradalsfjall in or close to the volcano called Reykjanes. At the writing of this article no earthquake with magnitude over Mw2,0 have happened. That might change without a warning.


The earthquake swarm in the volcano Reykjanes or close to it. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Currently there isn’t anything suggesting that magma is on the move at the writing of this article. This earthquake swarm is something to watch out for since this might increase in size and magnitude over the next few hours. Inflation data from GPS measurements from this area are still unclear. There is also ongoing earthquake swarm north of Grindavík town but it has quieted down in last few hours.

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Three strong earthquakes in Tjörnes Fracture Zone close to Gjögurtá

During the night (19-July-2020) three earthquakes took place in Tjörnes Fracture Zone on the Flatey – Húsvík fault. Around midnight earthquake activity started to increase on the Flatey – Húsavík fault. The first earthquake with magnitude Mw3,0 took place at 02:54 UTC and the largest earthquake with magnitude Mw4,4 took place at 03:07 UTC and the second largest earthquake with magnitude Mw3,3 took place at 07:05 UTC. More earthquakes with magnitude above Mw3,0 can’t be ruled out and there remains a risk of earthquake with magnitude of Mw7,0 is going to happen in this area.


The earthquake activity in Tjörnes Fracture Zone for the last 48 hours. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This is the largest earthquake since 8th July 2020 when a magnitude Mw4,2 earthquake took place in this area in the rift valley that is also active during this earthquake swarm. Over 14.000 earthquakes have been recorded since start of this earthquake swarm on 19th June 2020. This earthquake swarm is ongoing at the writing of this article.

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