Earthquake swarm north of Herðubreið mountain

Yesterday (5. March 2023) at 18:00 UTC an earthquake with magnitude Mw3,4 took place north of Herðubreið mountain. This is a small earthquake swarm and is part of an ongoing earthquake swarm in this area that has been going on since October 2022 (or in around that month).

Green star and red dots north of Herðubreið mountain, that is located north-east of Askja volcano. Smaller earthquakes in Askja volcano shown with blue and yellow dots.
Earthquake activity north of Herðubreið mountain. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Depth of this earthquake was only 4,2 km and earthquake activity in this area has been getting shallower with time. If this is magma, then there’s not a lot of it at this depth. Earthquake activity is small compared to the earthquake swarms that happen just before an eruption. It is clear that, if this is magma, it is not pushing its way up the surface at this point in time.