Today (22. April 2024) at 04:53 UTC an earthquake swarm started in Reykjanes volcano. This was not a strong or a large earthquake swarm. Largest earthquake only having a magnitude of Mw3,1. All other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude.
Earthquake activity on the Reykjanes ridge and in Reykjanes volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
This earthquake activity suggest a magma movement. It is however too little to start an eruption at the writing of this article. That can change without warning. Since the condition that the Reykjanes volcano is in is unclear, since its in part under the ocean and that makes monitoring it properly difficult and impossible in some areas.
This morning on 21. April 2024 at 06:37 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw5,4 took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. Largest aftershock had a magnitude of Mw3,0. There’s no earthquake swarm going on at the time of writing of this article. This earthquake was felt in some parts of Iceland but was possibly detected over most of Iceland in a quiet locations.
Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
This is the strongest earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano since the eruption in Holuhraun in the year 2014 to 2015. This earthquake activity is a long term signal that inflation in Bárðarbunga volcano has reached a new level. Eruption is not going to happen or is extremely unlikely to happen following this earthquake or in next few years. Shortest time between eruptions in Bárðarbunga volcano is around 10 years.
This is how I recorded the earthquake on my own seismometer.
The magnitude Mw5,4 earthquake as it was recorded on my own seismometer.
I am sorry how late I am with this article. I was busy yesterday (13. April 2024) and I was unable to write this article at that time.
Yesterday (13. April 2024) at 10:02 UTC an earthquake with a magnitude of Mw3,3 took place just south of Kleifarvatn lake in Krýsuvík volcano. This earthquake swarm seems to have happened on a fault that is mostly known for earthquakes that are connected to tectonic movements in the area. This is not a fault that is connected to volcano related activity, as those are more in south-west and north-east direction. Faults that are connected to crust movement in this area have the direction north-south as seems to be the case this time. It complicates matter that magma movement deep in the crust can result in earthquakes happening on both type of faults. As I suspect what happened here.
Earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
Krýsuvík volcano is not ready to start an eruption, best I can see. It is also missing a lot more earthquake activity before an eruption starts. But the signs that it is moving in that direction have started to appear. How long the wait is going to be when a eruption starts is impossible to know.
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