Posted on by Jón Frímann

Strong earthquake swarm in Bárðarbunga volcano during the night

During the night of 08-March-2017 a strong earthquake swarm took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 4,1 and the second largest earthquake swarm had the magnitude of 3,9. Other earthquakes in this swarm where smaller in magnitude.


Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano (green stars). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Earthquake activity happens in Bárðarbunga volcano mainly due to magma being injected into the main volcano at depth. This goes into magma chambers somewhere in the volcano, current data suggests that the magma chamber that erupted in in August 2014 to February 2015 is currently inflating. The rate of this type of earthquake activity has gone down in Bárðarbunga volcano, this used to be a weekly activity but now only happens every 2 to 4 weeks at the moment. This slowdown in activity is likely to continue if nothing else happens (new eruption or dyke activity).

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12 Replies to “Strong earthquake swarm in Bárðarbunga volcano during the night”

    1. Thanks a lot for the Google+ link. As I am refusing Facebook this makes it easier to follow your posts.

    2. After latest BBC News about Facebook I plan on using it little as possible (since I’m disgusted by Facebook reaction). I can’t fully stop using it due to how the world is, but I can use it little as possible. I also have a twitter account.

      https://twitter.com/jonfr500

  2. Wednesday
    08.03.2017 14:59:03 64.623 -17.379 0.0 km 3.0 99.0 7.3 km ESE of Bárðarbunga

  3. Any link between the action on Bárðarbunga and the small swarm on Herðubreið other than being close to each other?

    2. No. It’s a different system. Herðubreið is not a volcano, but might be a crater row from a other volcano called Herðubreiðarfjöll (it is marked as such on my maps, no GVP profile). Herðubreið is outside Askja fissure swarm and doesn’t appear to be inside Kverkfjöll fissure swarm. Making eruptions in this area a bit of a mystery.

      This area has many rift faults (Herðurbreiðarfjöll) and nearby area. It is inside Askja fissure swarm, this however is a volcano in its own right. I don’t know when it last erupted due to lack of information. In 2011 this area had a deep earthquake activity but nothing more happened following that activity.

      See article I wrote about it here, http://icelandgeology.net/?p=914

  4. I was going to write article last week, but I got sick and I was unable to do anything (headache and other annoyances). I have mostly recovered now, but I’m coughing a little bit since it was a cold that I got.

    I hope to write the article I was writing sometimes next week.

  5. Strong one Monday morning to the north east of Bárðarbunga :
    Monday 13.03.2017 02:40:19 AM 64.671 -17.465 2.5 km ** 3.7 ** 99%
    4.5 km NE of Bárðarbunga

  6. Hi Jon, Herðubreið is in fact a volcano although it doesn’t appear to have erupted since the retreat of the ice. It formed under the glacier. When I and a colleague climbed it in 1985 we found mostly pillow lavas and hyloclastites. Given its position on the rift zone I would not be at all surprised to see a renewal of activity.

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