Minor earthquake swarm in Katla volcano

During the night there was a minor earthquake swarm in Katla volcano. Largest earthquake in this swarm had a magnitude of Mw2,9 but all other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude.


The earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There is nothing suggesting that an eruption is about to happen. The earthquake activity is far too low to suggesting that an eruption is about to happen. It is a question if a cauldron is about to empty it self in the Mýrdalsjökull glacier as such events happen in the summer. It is often followed by small amount of earthquake activity before and after a glacier flood happen.

Data from 2010 to 2017 suggest that there is a steady increase in earthquake activity before an eruption happens. There was a small eruption in Katla volcano (based on harmonic tremors) in July 2011 and again in July 2017 (article can be found here). In July 2017 an magnitude Mw4,5 earthquake took place without an eruption happening. Article on that can be found here.

Katla volcano has been real quiet in 2020 and there are no signs of that is about to change at the writing of this article. Best that can be done now as before is just keep monitoring what is going on in Katla volcano.

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