There seems to be a growing earthquake swarm in Krísuvík volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula. The strongest earthquake so far is a ML2.2 according to the automatic size estimate. Some ghost earthquakes appear to be outside a town called Akranes and Reykjavík to the north. But that are earthquakes that are in fact nothing but errors. This earthquake swarm is tectonic in nature, not volcanic. So there is not going to be a eruption in Krísuvík volcano from what I can tell at current moment.
The earthquake swarm in Krísuvík volcano. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Met Office.
It is hard to know how this earthquake swarm is going to develop. But this earthquake swarm looks growing. For that it is going to peak in activity sometimes in the next few hours. But when exactly is hard to know for sure. I am going to update this blog post if something major happens. The strongest earthquakes appears on my geophone and can be viewed here.
Thanls for the update on this swarm Jon, I just opened computer and noticed this swarm and was wondering what was happening. I knew I could rely on your for an explanation. so came straight to your blog.
I also noticed today that steaming is again coming from the Hengill drillhole. So either they did some more drilling this last week, or more steam just started to come out.
I found that swarm in Akureyri quite interesting, I think this is a old rift, the shape of valleys there seems to indicate that. That is westwards of the current rift.
The cold continues here, about -10ºC of max temp.
http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/hekla/borholu_thensla.html
Something strange happening at Hekla?
I cannot see anything strange happening in Hekla.
Everything seems normal.
Seems to have gone quiet now; hope it stays that way. A belated good night.
What’s going on at Krisuvik this morning? The Icelandic Met Office map looks to be dipped in red paint!
NB in above for Krisuvik read Reykjanes peninsula – apologies!