Posted on by Jón Frímann

Ongoing earthquake activity in Katla volcano (Week 50)

Yesterday and today there has been some earthquake activity in Katla volcano. While this earthquake activity is less then what have been taking place during the past few months this activity is bit higher then it used to be during the winter times. The largest earthquakes so far have had the magnitude around ML2.0 (from what I can tell). Currently this earthquake activity is limited to three areas inside Katla volcano caldera according to report from Iceland Meteorological Office.


Earthquakes in Katla volcano during the past 48 hours. The ares with most earthquake activity can clearly be seen inside Katla volcano caldera. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

This earthquake activity is more then compared to the winters few years back. Here is an comparison from the years 2009 and 2010 in Week 50 (current Week).


Earthquake activity in Katla volcano during Week 50 in the year 2009. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.


Earthquake activity in Katla volcano during Week 50 in the year 2010. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

As can be seen with this comparison, the earthquake activity now in Katla volcano is considerable higher then in what is called an normal year in terms of activity in Katla volcano. What this means is unclear. But this suggests an eruption is not far away in Katla volcano. But when and how big is impossible to know at current time. Many of the earthquake swarms in Katla volcano are due to dike intrusions taking place in the Katla volcano caldera. But not all of them get to the surface to start an eruption. However such activity can and has increased hydro-thermal activity inside Katla volcano caldera. As has been evident during the past few months in Katla volcano caldera.

29 Replies to “Ongoing earthquake activity in Katla volcano (Week 50)”

  1. Ok, thanks Jón.

    Just a quick question, there have been 2 quakes at Hekla now, could this still be tectonic?

  3. Jón, I wish you a Merry Christmas and to all your dear ones!
    Extended to all readers over this blog.

    1. I join with Renato in wishing you and your family a very peaceful and Happy Christmas Jon. Also I wish everyone “Gleðileg jól ”

      I think this sounds like good fun …..

      Christmas in Iceland is an interesting experience as this country has many old traditions for celebrating Christmas. Expect no fewer than 13 Icelandic Santa Clauses! In Iceland, they are called jólasveinar (“Yuletide Lads”; singular: jólasveinn). Their parents are Grýla, a mean old woman who drags off naughty children, and Leppalúði, who is not as mean. The origin of these “Santas” is centuries old, and each has its own name, character and role.

      Nowadays during Christmas in Iceland, their function is to come to town bearing gifts and candy (and a prank or two). The first jólasveinn arrives 13 days before Christmas and then the others follow, one each day. After Christmas, they leave one by one. The Icelandic Christmas season lasts 26 days.

      2. Thank you Fonix. What lovely songs and a lovely way to learn a little more Icelandic language 🙂

  4. Hi Jon – I haven’t posted in a long time because I was scared to do so. (sort of) Anyway, I was looking at the La Restinga web cams a couple of hours ago and noticed that the waters were roiling around in the stain as it has done previously. It seems pretty calm at the moment though.

    @Mr explosion, thanks for the link. Good reading and nice and easy to understand.

    I’m still checking in a couple times a day and hope to post more often. Meanwhile I wish you and everyone happy holidays and a wonderful new year.

  5. Yes, I also want to wish you Jón and all good ppl participating here, a God Jul & Gott Nytt År!

  6. 24th December is a day to watch as there will be the galactic alignment of the Sun, Moon & Earth. Let’s hope massive earthquakes do not materialise.

    Have a good Xmas and a peaceful New Year.

    3. The Sun, Moon and the Earth are aligned everytime there is an eclipse.

      Major EQs may or may not occur at the same time; there are more factors involved than the gravitational impact of the Sun and the Moon on EQs ~ hence the immense difficulties in predicting EQs.

      New Zealand seems to have anticipated 24/12; it has had a major EQ today but fortunately no fatalities.

      1. Let’s just see how this harmonic convergence affects the earth on the 24th. I don’t think we will have much to talk about!!!

  8. Two earthquakes this morning

    December 23, 2011 at 2.16 lat 27.8948 long 18.0807 depth 16 mag 1.6 NW Frontera

    December 23rd at 4.09 lat 27.6770 long 18.0363 depth 15 mag 1.6 SW El Pinar

  10. Merry Christmas & Better New Year 2012! Especially to Jon, but also to all of you, commenters & readers!

  11. Jon: Could some of the increased earthquake activity in Katla compared to earlier years be due to more and better seismic equipment being installed? It seems like a lot of the eartquakes detected in Katla are really small…

  12. KarenZ says: December 23, 2011 at 11:13

    New Zealand seems to have anticipated 24/12; it has had a major EQ today but fortunately no fatalities.

    Two earthquakes near Christchurch where there has been ongoing seismic activity for just over a year. The interesting thing is that while these appeared to be aftershocks, it now appears that they are unrelated to the previous quakes and are on a new faultline 20 km north east of the one that caused so much death and destruction earlier this year. I have a post on the forum about it.

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