Minor earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge

Last night (27-October-2014) a minor earthquake swarm took place on the Reykjanes Ridge. Around 10 earthquakes where recorded and the largest one had the magnitude of 3,7.

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The earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes Ridge. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

No further earthquake activity has been detected today besides this earthquake activity around midnight. This does not rule out future activity, since earthquake swarms are common on the Reykjanes Ridge and they often can get big and last for few days to week when they happen.

4 Replies to “Minor earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge”

  1. I read today about the western edge of the North American plate rising causing the Eastern coast of America to fall with Boston and New York under threat of flooding.

    Is the North American plate on the Eastern edge subsiding under the Reykjanes Ridge and if so could that be causing the current pattern of earthquakes around Iceland?

    1. There is no subduction zone around Iceland, on the contrary the Nortamerican Plate and the Eurasian Plate are moving away from each other by an average of 2 cm/year.

    2. There might be a small case of post-glacial rebound affecting New England. Hudson Bay has the strongest rebound (land rising) of former glacier basins right now, followed by the Baltic Sea.

      On the North Sea coast of Germany, Denmark and Netherlands this lead to land subsiding, and to devastating floods during the Middle Ages and the huge dykes built in response.

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