Two strong earthquakes in Tjörnes Fracture Zone during the night

During the night of 8-August-2020 at 03:42 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw4,6 took place in Tjörnes Fracture Zone on Flatey – Húsavík fault. This earthquake was felt and did wake people up from their sleep. A second earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,7 took place at 03:52 UTC. Both earthquakes were felt. No damage happened in this earthquake. After the largest earthquakes happened a swarm of smaller earthquakes took place.


The earthquake activity in Tjörnes Fracture Zone. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake swarm is the same one that started on 19-June-2020 and has been ongoing since then. This earthquake swarm has not been as strong as it was in June at the moment. There is a permanent risk of a magnitude Mw7,0 earthquake in this area while the earthquake swarm is ongoing. There are no signs that this earthquake swarm is about to end.