Posted on by Jón Frímann

Earthquake activity south of Keilir mountain

On Saturday 25-September-2021 an earthquake swarm started close to Keilir mountain, at the writing of this article this earthquake swarm is ongoing.

Red dots on Reykjanes peninsula show the location of an ongoing earthquake swarm that is now happening.
Earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes peninsula. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

The eruption in Fagradalsfjall mountain has been having its longest quiet period since 19-March-2021 and at the writing of this article that is ongoing situation.

This earthquake activity suggest that the eruption time period in this part of the Reykjanes peninsula is not over, even if nothing is happening at the moment.

Krýsuvík-Trölladyngja is a volcano system is currently erupting in this area.

Article updated on 29-September-2021 at 11:49 UTC. Correct date of the earthquake swarm start added to the article.

7 Replies to “Earthquake activity south of Keilir mountain”

  1. The quakes seem to be in the general area where it is believed the material rises from the mantle before reaching the lateral dike that transported it to the eruption location. If the dike has closed it could potentially build pressure there. My hope is that it does not erupt to the surface anywhere north of Meradalir. If the crust can hold, it might simply cool in place.

    If it does reach the surface farther north, my hope is that it happens south of Þráinsskjöldur where there is a chance the lava might flow south rather than north toward Reykjanesbraut.

  4. Quake swarm still continuing. Looks like 5-7 km depth. Boy, this sure makes things interesting.

    Jon, link above won’t go through. ERR_SSL_PROTOCOL_ERROR
    Not sure what’s up with that.

  5. I am not getting any SSL Protocol error and Firefox says the SSL certification is valid.

    I think the magma is pushing through at this location since it doesn’t have anywhere else to go.

  6. I read a report in the Iceland media that satellite data had not shown any significant surface deformation but that information is a couple of days old. I saw a report of steam near Keilir coming from the ground. It would see obvious looking at the faf harmonic tremor plot that magma is moving somewhere, but it is still a mystery as to where it is going.

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