Bárðarbunga volcano strongest earthquake swarm since year 2014

Yesterday (13. June 2026) at 20:14 UTC an earthquake with a magnitude Mw4,8 took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. This earthquake started an earthquake swarm in Bárðarbunga volcano that lasted until around 05:00 UTC before it did quiet down. Around 400 earthquakes where recorded in this earthquake swarm before it stopped. Total of six earthquakes with magnitude over Mw3,0 took place in this earthquake swarm.

Green stars in the centre of Bárðarbunga volcano, surrounded by red dots showing smaller earthquakes.
Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano during the night. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

The source of this earthquake swarm is movement of magma in Bárðarbunga volcano. This time, it did stop and not result in a eruption. An earthquake swarm of similar nature took place in Bárðarbunga volcano last year. Its is a possibility that this earthquake activity is not over, even if nothing has happened for more than 12 hours at the writing of this article. The source of this is magma and it is impossible to know what happens next. Bárðarbunga volcano has been inflating since end of the eruption in 2015. After it collapsed in that same eruption, during a caldera collapse event and lowered about 60 meters. Last inflation number suggested that it has inflated about 30 meters from lowest point.

If anything more happens. I am going to write a new article about what happens.

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