Reykjanes Ridge – Page 10 – Iceland geology

January 3, 2016January 3, 2016

Minor earthquake swarm on Reykjanes ridge and TFZ (Tjörnes Fracture Zone)

The new year (2016) stars with two minor earthquake swarms in Iceland. Both earthquake swarms are small in both earthquake magnitude and number of earthquakes.

Reykjanes Ridge earthquake swarm

The earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge started at 09:08 UTC and lasted until 11:24 UTC. The earthquake swarm has stopped for now, I don’t think it’s over at the moment. It’s difficult to know for sure if an earthquake swarm is over or not in this area, since earthquake swarms are complex and a minor earthquake swarm might start a bigger one few hours later.

The earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

This earthquake swarm was small in magnitude and the largest earthquake had the magnitude of 2,1. The earthquake swarm is taking place in a volcano that last erupted in 1926 according to Global Volcanism Program. I however don’t think it is connected to any volcano related activity, this appears to be more like a rift earthquake activity.

Tjörnes Fracture Zone (TFZ)

A second earthquake swarm today took place in TFZ. This earthquake swarm was small in magnitude and largest earthquake had the magnitude of 1,9. This earthquake swarm is also rather deep, with deepest earthquake having the depth of 21,9 km (if it was properly located). This might suggest that magma was at work here. This earthquake swarm took place in a volcano that last erupted in the year 1868 (they think) (GVP information). There are two volcanoes in this area and it’s not fully clear what volcano erupted in the year 1868.

The earthquake swarm in TFZ. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

This earthquake swarm is continuing and has not yet stopped. It remains a question if it is going to grow or start activity in nearby fault, since sometimes activity in one fault on TFZ can trigger earthquake activity in nearby faults. At the moment that has not happened, but it’s difficult to know for sure at the moment.

Advertisements

I have changed the advertisements a little. Amazon US has a new advertisements that allows me to get paid by view of an advertisements, rather than just sale. This is working out good for me and has increased my income from this website a little from what it used to be. This also means that I don’t have to use Google Adsense to increase my income from this website. I continue to get from 1% to 10% of sales (I get more when it comes to special offers and such deals that Amazon is running all the time).

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. Thanks for the support. 🙂

October 11, 2015

Overview of week 41 activity in Iceland

Week 41 in Iceland was rather quiet, compared to last two weeks in Iceland. Here is a overview over the highlight in the earthquake activity in Iceland.

South Iceland Seismic Zone (SISZ)

Constant earthquake activity has been in SISZ over the week and it has been ongoing for the past weeks, none of the earthquakes have been large, with almost all of them being less then magnitude 1,0. Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 2,5.

The earthquake activity on SISZ. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

Bárðarbunga volcano

For most part earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano was normal this week, with regular earthquake swarms taking place in the usual places. The most interesting earthquake this week took place under Trölladyngju, it was only magnitude 0,7, but it was on depth of 26,2 km.

Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

Herðubreið

Earthquake swarm has been taking place all week in Herðubreið. Earthquake swarms are common in this area and often have magnitude 3,0 earthquakes or larger. The earthquake swarm is ongoing when this is written.

Earthquake activity in Herðubreið/Herðubreiðarfjöll area (north of Askja volcano). Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

Reykjanes ridge

A magnitude 3,4 earthquake took place deep on the Reykjanes ridge this week. The earthquake was not felt and there might have been more than one earthquake. My geophone in Heklubyggð shows more than one earthquake one hour after the magnitude 3,4 earthquake happens.

Earthquake activity on the Reykjanes ridge. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

A magnitude 3,0 earthquake also took place around 200 km off the coast of Reykjanes peninsula (around 153 km south of Eldeyjarboða). That earthquake location was poor due to the distance from the SIL network.

Donations: Please remember to support my work here with donations or by using Amazon banners when you buy from Amazon. Thanks for the support.

September 21, 2015September 21, 2015

Earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge

Today (21-September-2015) a minor (so far) earthquake swarm has been taking place on the Reykjanes ridge. Largest earthquake so far had the magnitude of 3,5 so far other earthquakes have been smaller in magnitude.

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

It is difficult to know for sure what happens. Earthquake swarms in this part of the Reykjanes ridge often end quietly, but they can also just pick up as easily, it is impossible to know for sure.

September 11, 2015

Earthquake activity on the Reykjanes ridge

Yesterday (10-September-2015) there was an earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge. This earthquake swarm was small and the largest earthquake only had the magnitude of 3,1. Other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude.

Earthquake activity on the Reykjanes ridge. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

There is a chance of more earthquake activity in this area, since earthquake swarms on the Reykjanes ridge often start slowly.

August 2, 2015

Earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge

On the 01-August-2015 an earthquake swarm took place on the Reykjanes ridge. This earthquake swarm was far off the coast line and populated areas and was only seen on instruments (seismometers). The earthquake swarm appears to be over for now, it might start again without a warning. Due to the distance from the coast it might be ongoing without being detected, since only largest earthquakes are being detected by Iceland Met Office.

The earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Met Office.

Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 3,3. Other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude. There is a good chance there is a volcano at this location, it just isn’t well known. Any eruption at this location would not be seen on the surface of the ocean due to depth (1 – 3 km).

Böðvarshólar geophone: I have restarted the geophone in Böðvarshólar. Since I won’t be moving back to Denmark.
Sauðárkrókur geophone: I’m going to try getting into school at Sauðárkrókur in August due to the sudden plan changes. If I get in, I am going to be running a temporary geophone where I am going to be living during the years that I going to be in school learning electronics and other things (including, Danish, German and Spanish).

My geophone website can be found here.

Other: My plan on moving back to Denmark has been delayed permanently. The reason for that are law changes, both in EU and Denmark that make it difficult for people on social welfare to move there. At least that is my understanding of the current changes. They have also been creating problem currently and along with other tax related issues that I had to deal with. I decided that it was too much problem for me to move back to Denmark. I am just going to watch DR 1 – 3 instead along with television channels from Germany. I am at least now debt free in Denmark, since I have paid up my tax debt in Denmark that originally forced me to move back to Iceland.

Due to the reason that I am going to be permanently living in Iceland. I am now moving PayPal and other such items to Iceland. I won’t close down my danish paypal account (that is a big no-no). Paypal buttons are going to be moved to my Iceland paypal site in next few days when I have time. Direct donations option is also going to be moved to my Icelandic bank account rather than my danish one. I am going to close down my danish bank account and my danish paypal account in few years.

July 8, 2015July 9, 2015

Earthquake swarm on Reykjanes ridge yesterday (07-July-2015)

Yesterday (07-July-2015) there was a small earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge. Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 3,3. Other earthquakes where smaller. At the moment it appears that the activity in this part of the Reykjanes ridge is over.

The earthquake activity on the Reykjanes ridge yesterday. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

This activity also suggests that more earthquake swarm activity is going to take place in this or around it soon. When is impossible to know for sure.

Donations: Please remember to support my work with donations or by using Amazon. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Twitch: I am currently working on this. It won’t be up and running until I am back in Denmark (I am going to do some minor tests in Iceland). I am trying to use my gaming (the little that is) to increase my income or at least I am going try to do so. The channel is going to remain off-line for the time being. While I setting everything up and doing some testing. I also suffer from a lack of time at the moment to do this properly.

July 1, 2015July 1, 2015

Earthquake swarm continues on Reykjanes ridge, small chance of eruption

Today (01-July-2015) earthquake activity continued on the Reykjanes ridge, largest earthquakes so far are magnitude 5,0 (EMSC information here). Second largest earthquake had magnitude 4,8, other earthquakes have been smaller in magnitude. Total of 35 earthquakes that have taken place are larger than magnitude 3,0 and total number of earthquakes when this is written is 537.

Earthquake activity on the Reykjanes ridge. Green stars are earthquakes that are magnitude 3,0 or stronger. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

Earthquake activity has dropped but is ongoing at the moment. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

Earthquake activity now happens in pulses, with low activity for 2 – 4 hours before it increases again. It is not clear why this is taking place. Overall earthquake activity is dropping at the moment, it might increase again without a warning.

Yellow alert for risk of eruption

The alert level for this volcano that is now making earthquake noise has been raised to yellow. The change happened during my working hours so I was unable to write about it right away. This means there is a risk of eruption at this location, last eruption in this location was in the year 1879 according to the information I have collected here.

Current warning for the volcano at Eldey is yellow. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

I don’t know for sure at the moment what the chances are of an eruption at the moment. That should be clearer in next 24 – 48 hours (I hope).

Donations: Please remember to support my work with donations or by using Amazon. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Article updated at 23:50 UTC.

June 30, 2015

Strong earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge

Around 21:00 UTC today (30-June-2015) a strong earthquake swarm started on the Reykjanes ridge. So far the largest earthquake had the magnitude of 4,2, this has not been reviewed so it might be larger or smaller once reviewed.

The earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge, this earthquake activity has not been reviewed yet by Iceland Meteorological Office. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

The earthquake swarm is dense as can be seen on this image. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

It is possible to monitor the progress of the earthquake on my geophone in Heklubyggð here.

Donations: Please remember to support my work with donations or by using Amazon. Thanks. 🙂

June 19, 2015June 19, 2015

Earthquake warning for Reykjanes peninsula

Icelandic Meteorological Office and Almannavarnir have issued a warning about possible large earthquake on the Reykjanes peninsula. This warning is triggered by the earthquake swarm in Krísuvík on 30-May-2015 and a second earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge on 11-June-2015.

Largest earthquakes in this earthquake sequence once it starts might reach magnitude of 6,5. There remains a hope that the stress on the Reykjanes peninsula and Reykjanes ridge is going to be released out slowly without large earthquake taking place. The warning only covers the populated part of the Reykjanes, from Kleifarvatn and east to Ölfus. It is my view that chance is small at best, it might work out that, I do think that is unlikely outcome of this. It is impossible to know when this earthquake activity might happen, but since the warning has been issued it might only be few weeks to month until something happens.

Last large earthquake in Bláfjöll mountains (Breinnisteinsfjöll volcano) took place in 1929 and 1968. Due to the area in question being less populated than it is today there was no or little damage. Current warning says the people should prepare to limit damage, since in past few years the populated areas have moved closer earthquake risk areas of the Reykjanes peninsula.

The warning (in Icelandic)

Skjálftavirkni á Reykjanesskaga (vedur.is, Icelandic Meteorological Office, Icelandic)
Fréttatilkynning vegna jarðskjálftavirkni að undanförnu á svæðinu frá Krísuvík austur í Ölfus (vedur.is, pdf, Icelandic)

Icelandic News

Vara við skjálfta til að draga úr slysahættu (Vísir.is, Icelandic, pictures)
Hætta á stórum skjálfta á Reykjavíkursvæðinu (Vísir.is, Icelandic)

Donations: Please remember to support my work with donations or by using Amazon. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Article updated at 23:52 UTC.

June 11, 2015June 11, 2015

Earthquake swarm on Reykjanes ridge (11-June-2015)

During the night of 11-June-2015 an earthquake swarm took place on the Reykjanes ridge. This was a medium sized earthquake swarm, so far 151 earthquake have taken place.

The earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge, green stars are earthquakes larger than magnitude 3,0. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

The largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 3,9, second largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 3,6. Other earthquakes in this swarm where smaller in magnitude. This earthquake swarm appears to be over at the moment, it might resume without warning. Since often large earthquake swarms in this part of the Reykjanes ridge start slowly and last over few days to weeks.

Earthquake swarm appeared clearly on my only geophone in Iceland, in Heklubyggð in south Iceland. This image is released under Creative Commons Licence. Please see CC Licence page for more details.

Any earthquake larger than magnitude 2,5 should appear clearly on my geophone in Heklubyggð, Iceland. Smaller earthquakes won’t appear clearly or not at all.

Donations: Please remember to support my work with donations or by using Amazon. Currently I am having money problem due the fact that everything is extremely expensive in Iceland when it comes to food. Thanks for the support. 🙂

More information can be found here (total living), here (food) and more information can be found here (article). I don’t have any lower price grocery (like Bonus) stores where I am living in Iceland due to small population (around 1400 people live in the multiplicity of Húnaþing Vestra). Denmark is considerable cheaper when it comes to buy food then Iceland, since it is possible to buy cheap food and there are always offers in stores. That is not the case in Iceland.

Cookie acceptance