Posted on by Jón Frímann

Daily Bárðarbunga update on 16-September-2014

This is the current status of Bárðarbunga volcano. This information might get outdated quickly if anything major happens. They are good now.

Currant status of Bárðarbunga volcano at 13:47 UTC

  • There is now one month since activity started in Bárðarbunga volcano. Around 20.000 earthquakes have been detected in this one month. Normal quiet year in Iceland has around 12.000 earthquakes. There have been around 229 earthquakes larger than magnitude 3,0. Almost all of them have taken place in Bárðarbunga volcano and in the ring fault that has formed.
  • It is expected that rift episode that is now taking place north of Bárðarbunga is going to last for months. So it is important to be patience when waiting for nature to do its thing.
  • Bárðarbunga volcano caldera is currently dropping around 50cm/day. That might change without warning.
  • The eruption in Holuhraun is ending slowly. It is expected that it is going to end in next few days. This does not mean the eruption is over, it means there is now increased risk of new eruption along the dyke. There is high risk of any new eruption taking place under the glacier. Since most of the dyke is under the Vatnajökull glacier.
  • ESA has interesting article about the SO2 pollution here.
  • Largest earthquake today had the magnitude 4,8 at 10:36 UTC. It is the largest earthquake so far. Second largest earthquake took place at 09:13 UTC and had the magnitude of 3,6.
  • Harmonic tremor data suggest that pressure might be increasing again inside Bárðarbunga volcano system. That is not good news and might start an eruption in Bárðarbunga volcano caldera.
  • Rifting episode has not yet started south of Bárðarbunga volcano. When that is going to start I do not know. I do however expect it to happen soon, so there is risk of eruption both north and south og Bárðarbunga, along with eruption in Bárðarbunga volcano it self. This does not mean that all areas are going to erupting at the same time, that might happen in some cases.

Update at 21:42 UTC

  • Largest earthquake so far is a magnitude 5,2 that took place at 14:47 UTC. More earthquakes have been taking place in the last hour, but there magnitude has not been confirmed yet.

No other updates at present time. I will add new updates as needed.

Still more on comments

Please keep off-topic discussion to a minimal amount (if you really have to go off-topic). This is not the website to talk about religion or politics. There is plenty of space to that elsewhere on the internet. So please keep your comment on-topic. Also remind people to be nice to each other. I will add repeated offenders to the “your comment go directly to the spam bin” list. I have to have some control over the comment. Since the eruption and activity in Bárðarbunga volcano is going to last for several months.

I also suggest to people to take it easy. Nature is going to do its thing in Bárðarbunga volcano in its own time and way. There is nothing we can do about it, expect maybe get the hell out of the way if you are so unlucky to be close to Bárðarbunga volcano when it starts erupting.

Article updated at 21:45 UTC.

383 Replies to “Daily Bárðarbunga update on 16-September-2014”

      1. Per Klemetti: “If we were running up to a massive event, then we should expect to see massive signs, like hundreds of meters of uplift (not the centimeters of uplift we see regularly around the caldera). ”

        Indeed.

        My impression after a bit of reading a couple of years ago is it will take decades perhaps centuries of dome building and uplift before Yellowstone is in a position to do anything drastic (as it does periodically, to be sure). The dome would be obvious, as much as hundreds of meters high as Klemetti says.

        Let’s hope (against hope) by then technology has progressed to the point collapse can be prevented.

        Despite occasional earthquake swarms there’s no sign of even the first preludes to a “pancake” caldera collapse at Yellowstone happening. Currently the dome fluctuates on a scale of millimeters. We might perhaps see occasional activity around the rim, even big eruptions, but not enough to damage civilization.

        Calderas in general are a big deal (vis BB) but let’s not waste attention on Yellowstone quite yet.

  5. Does silicic acid form at these temperatures and pressures. This would be like silica gel lubricating the whole process.

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