Posted on by Jón Frímann

Earthquake swarm east of Iceland (45 km east of Fonti)

Today (15. December 2022) an earthquake swarm has been going around 45 km east of location known as Fonti in eastern Iceland. This location is out in the ocean and its unclear why this earthquake activity is happening. There are no volcanoes in this part of Iceland and no known fault areas. Since this is among the oldest parts of Iceland.

Largest earthquake in this swarm recorded so far, had the magnitude of M2,9. Distance from the SIL network prevents detection of smaller earthquakes in this area.

Picture of Iceland showing dots that show the smaller earthquakes all over Iceland. In eastern Iceland in the ocean, there's a cluster of small earthquakes shown in red dots and orange dots.
Earthquake swarm far east of Fonti in eastern Iceland. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.
Close up image of the earthquake activity from Fonti area from Skjálfta Lísa earthquake viewer on Icelandic Met Office website.
Close up image of the earthquake activity from Skjálfta Lísa earthquake viewer on Icelandic Met Office website. This only shows reviewed earthquakes. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There is a risk of stronger earthquakes in this area. If this earthquakes are going to be felt in populated areas is unlikely unless this earthquake activity gets really big. Since this earthquake activity is far from the coastline and there’s almost no population in this parts of Iceland.