Earthquake swarm near Geirfugladrangur island on Reykjanes ridge

Today (23-March 2026) at 12:08 UTC an earthquake swarm that had been going on since at least Friday (20-March 2026) increased in activity. Largest earthquake at the writing of this article had a magnitude of Mw4,4 and was felt in Reykjavík and other populated areas on Reykjanes peninsula.

Green stars and a lot of red dots where the main earthquake activity is on the Reykjanes ridge.
The earthquake swarm at Geirfugladrangur island. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity happens in waves. That means a lot of activity for up to four hours at the time or longer, with low activity for one to three hours at the time. This changes every few hours. I am reading this as there is magma that is causing this earthquake activity. It might not result in a eruption at the moment. If there is a very sharp increase in earthquake activity, that might be a sign that magma is breaking a path to the surface. What is happening now, is at possible dyke intrusion into the crust at Geirfugladrangur island. However, distance from land, this being under the ocean makes it real difficult to monitoring what is going on and to be sure what is going on.

If anything more happens. I’ll update with a new article soon as possible.