Currently everything is quiet in Iceland. Most of this quietness is mostly due the winter storms that are passing over Iceland at the moment. When this changes I have no idea. But there are always several weeks during the year that are quiet in Iceland, both in activity in volcanoes and earthquakes.
This is the reason why I have not had so much to write about during the past few days and weeks. But it can’t be helped. Activity in the world also seems to be rather quiet, there are always earthquakes but most of them are small.
I also advice any tourist going to Iceland this time of year NOT to go up on volcanoes during the winter without experienced mountain travel guide. If you do that without an guide you are risking your own life, as the weather in Iceland is unforgiving and has killed people in matters of hours. The people in the news on Rúv got really, really lucky. The where just cold and where saved by rescue teams.
Icelandic News about people how got stuck on cliffs on Eyjafjallajökull volcano. Use Google Translate to understand.
Í sjálfheldu á Eyjafjallajökli (Rúv.is)
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2098765/Young-adventurer-phones-father-tiny-tomb-tent-collapses.html
This link is to a story about a tourist on Vatnajokull last week… I’m glad that they’re safe but I do worry about their lack of common sense. Surely they must have been warned not to attempt the trip!
Jon … if everything is quiet out there, come to Brazil, soooo hot, and Carnival is here! Sorry, but we have no volcano just have practical this offer!
Looks like something happening in Katla right now.
Why is strain so increasing in Hekla?? http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/hekla/thensla_hekla.html what does that mean Jón?
You are looking at the raw data. According to this plot here, http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/hekla/borholu_thensla.html
Everything is normal at Hekla volcano.
Hi, this night inside the Katla tranquility seems to have been some earthquakes, the most curious are its depth, do not think it by ice
but are seen dispersed
http://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/earthquakes/myrdalsjokull/
Iceland climate is really harsh.
There was one time, I was hiking in the highlands in the south, it was in summer, and that day there was a big storm (4ºC and strong winds) and one tourist couple was lost, called for help, but was never found what happened to them.
I also lost myself several times in summertimes, but I always hike with that possibility in my mind (that the weather might turn into a snowstorm and I may have to be exposed outside for several hours). One time in June, I experienced snow while trying to hike Hengill (which is supposedly an easy hike) and I had to improvise an emergency route to escape that snowstorm. I always hike with an emergency blanket and extra thermic clothes.
In winter it is just insane and crazy to do long hikes, even if you are a professional. We all know how dramatic the weather here gets. Winds of 100km/h with negative temperatures are very common in winter. Since I live in Iceland I have seen many many foreigners getting rescued in Iceland, including experienced climbers.
Something does seem to be happening at Katla this morning. Start of swarm?
This would make sense as I am supposed to fly to Europe next week 😉
Some interesting happened in Iceland today.
Some earthquakes happened in Veidivotn, and these have actually 99% quality. This is a place of amazingly huge fissure eruptions, and we usually never see earthquakes happening there.
Also, some minor tremor seems to have been recorded in station Vatnsfell, which is nearby, but not in Skrokkalda. The activity seems tectonic and be linked with Veidivotn and not to Hamarinn.
There are some frost quakes taking place in Iceland at the moment. They are creating some interesting earthquakes in places. It is cold in Iceland at the moment.
http://en.vedur.is/weather/forecasts/elements/#type=temp
Hi Jon, as i have heard frost quakes have never been recorded in this area. It is also unusual that these quakes are happening in a line, it also appears that these quakes have been coupled with some harmonic tremor that started at the ‘Vatnsfell’ station and a few others, and it appears to have started at the same time.
It seems to me that this could be a fissure in the next….well…. few million years? 😉
The Vatnsfell SIL station is close to an power plant. It often makes a lot of noise on that SIL station from what IMO has told me.
I suspect this. First, they are of too good quality to be ice quakes. And second, they are too deep for ice quakes.
This earthquakes are now on the weekly map. So I guess they are real earthquakes. As I do not believe that frost quakes are put there.
This is interesting activity. But it is hard to know what it means.
http://hraun.vedur.is/ja/viku/2012/vika_07/index.html#mark
It means the Veidivötn fissure MIGHT be activating. Nothing more yet (before we see many more earthquakes in this area).
Ripple effect of earlier quakes on the Reyjanes Ridge a few days ago?
Interesting you should suggest that Karen, i also wondered the same thing.