Update on new years activity and Eyjafjallajökull volcano

Here is the update for the new years activity in Iceland. During the new year there was a ML3.0 earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano system (local name is Kistufell). Where location of the earthquake swarm took place is known for a high level of earthquake activity in the past. So a earthquake swarm in that area is not a surprise and doesn’t mean anything special.

There has not been any more news on the rumble or the explosions in Eyjafjallajökull volcano since yesterday. It might well be that the event that was creating this noise is over. But I am far from sure on that due to lack of information. Due to cloud cover I am unable to see what is going at the top of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano with a web camera. What ever was going on in Eyjafjallajökull volcano it is clear that it was a powerful blast. One idea that I have had that this where a gas explosions of some type. But yesterday there where no reports of ash clouds or anything like that in the news. The weather forecast for the Eyjafjallajökull volcano area is not good for the next day or two. But currently the wind forecast is for a storm in the area of Eyjafjallajökull volcano and other mountains in south-east of Iceland.

28 Replies to “Update on new years activity and Eyjafjallajökull volcano”

  1. I still think it was a fracture opening up from one of the craterlakes down to still molten magma.
    Even a small crack would be enough to create prolonged rumbling sounds.
    Let’s say that 1M^3 of water falls down per second, that would be the equivalent of 100KGs of AMFO detonating per second (large mining ordinance blast) goind off per second. That would go on for quite some time, and would sound like a rumbling noise in the distance. 100KG AMFO per second in a mining blast sounds pretty much like a rumble as it is.
    And… all it would leave as evidence is a steam cloud, if even that since the steam from the explotions would be cooled off in the lake.

  2. Jon,

    Yesterday there was but a single point on that picture I sent you. What kind of gas explosion could there have been? There isnt much light up there to even use a camera right now…Daylight is about 4 hrs correct?

    I am picking up occasional thermals from the area that cant be confirmed. If there were ice on top and the thermals were being suppressed almost as fast as they burst out, then it would explain the situation. E.g. 1 frame with a dot on it in clear air and then gone.

    Very strange.

    1. We have daylight for around four hours, right.
      I guess it could be water from the crater lake, that came in contact to hot magma through a crack.
      Can you show an image of these thermal anomalies somewhere?

  3. Right now, I am in Reykjanes, I drove close to the place where the earthquake swarm is occurring. It’s a strong and brisk wind tonight. Although unrealistic, I keep dreaming what it would be like if Krisuvik would erupt

    1. One more thing: I can recommend visiting the Kleifarvatn/Seltún area when the weather is better. It is really nice.

  4. Yes, I still have to visit the Seltún area. Thanks for the recommendation! Well, I recommend (but obviously not now!) visiting the Fimmvorduhals zone, it’s a long hike up there, about 8-10 hours going up and back down, but probably the lava is still very hot there. I was there in July.

    1. The lava is still hot, yes. I saw photos from taken this autumn, where glowing lava was still visible through cracks. The complete volcano is still very hot.
      If I remember correctly, there is a shorter hike possible, if you start in Thórsmörk. But to get there you have to have a superjeep or take a bus.

      1. I did the hike from Básar last summer, it took me a bit more than 2 hours to the eruption site including taking pictures of Goðaland. A little bit less for the way down and add the time to look at the craters as you like.

  5. Do you think the web cam for Eyjafjallajökull will be restored? It would be more useful to put it back since there is getting to be more activity.

  6. New earthquake in England – if I can get the html right this time:-

    http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-12109625

    England is getting a bit lively recently, but is still rather boring and has no live or dormant volcanos – lots of very extinct ones though. My house is built on yellow and green pumice.

    1. For some reason the earthquake is not listed on EMSC web site. But this is a small earthquake. In a crust like in England you can expect to feel a earthquake a good distance. As the crust carries the earthquake waves a good long distance.

  7. I don’t want to be a annoying on trying to make money. But I did just started a page with volcano movies, documentaries and stuff like that on a new page here called “Web Store”. If people buy from it I will get a percent from the sale in question.

    I do not want to annoy my readers with this too much. But I am just trying to make a living everyone else. As the social benefits that I am on are not a lot of money.

    I hope that people can use this small web store of items that I am setting up here. It is still a work in process. I thank people from the bottom of my heart for the support so far! 😀

    1. Splendid idea!!!

      Put in a small reminder in the end of the month and you probably will get some sales. I guess a lot of people are looking sadly in their wallets right now after being robbed by Father Christmas. So, a small reminder when sallary has come in the end of the month… 🙂
      I will run and check out what you have now 🙂

  8. Jón, I don’t see the links for amazon USA. If I click from your site, will amazon’s programming know if I then switch to USA amazon? Btw, as your volcano blog has become a busy international “hit”, can’t you get some big corporate sponsors too?

    1. Sadly the links for Amazon USA are not up at the moment. I am going to try and fix that tonight. This is still a work in progress so not everything is ready yet. But it is going to be that soon. 🙂

      The answer to your question would be no. I don’t think that the Amazon web site would know if you move from the UK site and to the USA one.

    2. I am having rather annoying problem with my web page program (it doesn’t save new files!) so this might be delayed until later if I cannot figure this problem out.

      1. You probably already know this: sometimes it’s necessary to clear browser history before viewing the new page. Another thing it could be is the page file extension error, like an htm vs html. Also, do you have to upload the images separately to your server before they show up?

    3. I order from both the USA and Canada Amazon websites, and occasionally from the French one. They all recognize my US Amazon account, i.e, login and password, but your order is shipped from whichever site you order from, and it is much more costly to pay for international shipping. Also the video materials are generally region specific, so if you are using them in North America you cannot play European VHS or DVD videos with American technology unless you have a converter or multi-region player. I too am looking forward to seeing Jón’s Amazon USA offerings!

      1. Do the region-dvd players still exist? I haven’t seen one for 10 years. But if you have one old around you can almost always decode them, look at the internet for you manufacturer and modell. Sonys are impossible though.
        At least in europe you can watch american videos, but it might be that the stuff sold in the US are not as up to date. The VHSes are different though, there you have the thing with american (old fat-TVs) used half of the lineage compared to european systems.

      2. In the U.S it is illegal to crack your dvd player. In Europe every dvd player can play every dvd due to some ruling by a judge on a EU level I think. But that was a long time ago since that happened.

      3. @ Carl le Strange on müsli
        I haven’t gone the region-free player route since mine stopped working a few years back. And European DVDs sadly still do not play on our equipment. So now I just buy my foreign films from American or Canadian sites, or watch and record them with my satellite dish service. But I think that all of this may be obsolete soon, as more and more films are simply able to be downloaded.

  9. : ) Add to your list Amazon Canada and I’ll come shop via Jonfr.com too
    for my geoscience interests! Good Luck

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