Monitoring – Page 109 – Iceland geology

August 16, 2014August 17, 2014

Unconfirmed eruption in Bárðarbunga volcano

This information is going to get outdated quickly as more information is collected on this activity.

During all last week (Week 33) there has been a minor earthquake swarm in Bárðarbunga volcano. No other activity followed this minor earthquake activity during the week until last night (16-August-2014). During the night (around 02:20 UTC) a harmonic tremor started to appear on SIL stations around Bárðarbunga volcano. Following the appearance of the harmonic tremor earthquake activity started around 03:30 UTC. Largest earthquakes in this swarm have magnitude around 3,0 so far. Depth is around 5 to 10 km. During the night the earthquake swarm moved around in the volcano and is now more east then it first started. According to Rúv news the glacier around this part of Vatnajökull glacier is around 700 meters thick, so it going to take a major eruption to break the ice. This however also means that when a glacier flood starts in this area there is a high risk that is going to be large.

The largest earthquake that I did record during the night. This image is released under CC Licence. Please see CC Licence page for more details.

The earthquake swarm in Bárðarbunga volcano at 11:45 UTC. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Harmonic tremor on Dyngjuháls SIL station. This SIL stations is closest to the area of activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Harmonic tremor on Vonaskarð SIL station. This is one of the SIL station that is closest to the area of activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Currently the activity in Bárðabunga volcano is not stable, it does fluctuate a little. Besides this minor fluctuation it seems stable. Based on harmonic tremor signal and its range this does not appear to be a large eruption so far. That might change without warning. I do however expect larger earthquakes before any major volcano eruption in Bárðarbunga volcano. What seems to have happened is that a dike intrusion got to the surface and started this eruption, even if it is just small one at current time.

I am going to post update soon as more information gets available. This situation is going to change quickly and without much warning.

August 15, 2014

Earthquake swarm in Hveravellir

Two days ago (13-August-2014) an minor earthquake swarm took place in Hvervellir (volcano). Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 2,5. All the earthquakes that happened had depth less then of 10 km.

Earthquake swarm in Hveravellir (blue dots). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Earthquake activity is fairly common in this area. It however works in a short activity periods with long quiet period between them. So far nothing suggest that major earthquake activity is going to take place there, as has happened in the past. If that happens, the largest earthquakes can go up to magnitude 5,0.

August 12, 2014

Minor earthquake swarm in Krísuvík volcano

Yesterday (11-August-2014) a minor earthquake swarm took place in Krísuvík volcano. The largest earthquake in this minor earthquake swarm had the magnitude of 3,4 with the depth of 4,4 km. Only few minor earthquakes took place after the largest earthquake.

The earthquake swarm in Krísuvík volcano, the green star shows the location of the magnitude 3,4 earthquake. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

There is a risk of more earthquake activity in this area. Since earthquake swarms are known to start with minor activity that slowly grows until it tops and then slowly drops over a period of days or weeks. It might not happen now, but this is a common pattern on the Reykjanes.

August 7, 2014

Strange sounds heard from Herðubreið

Yesterday (6-August-2014) strange sounds were heard from Herðubreið (Wikpedia link). It is unclear what is creating this sounds, it was first thought that a avalanche had taken place, that however doesn’t seems to be the case. Some have suggested a land-slide or rock-slide might have taken place. That has not been confirmed at the time of writing of this article. What might have happened, if anything did happen in Herðubreið is currently unknown and might remains so for a while longer.

Icelandic news about this

Snjóflóð féll í Herðubreið í gær (Vísir.is)
Óútskýrðar drunur frá Herðubreið (Vísir.is)

July 31, 2014

Minor earthquake swarm in Torfajökull volcano

Today (31-July-2014) a minor earthquake swarm took place in Torfajökull volcano. This was a minor earthquake swarm and no earthquake did go above magnitude 3,0. Strongest magnitude of this earthquake swarm had the magnitude of 2,3. Depth of this earthquake swarm was from 15,1 km to around 1,0 km.

The earthquake swarm in Torfajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

This earthquake swarm appears to be over, at least at the moment. It might start again at later time. Earthquake activity is common in Torfajökull volcano and there are no signs of any other activity from Torfajökull volcano at the moment.

July 26, 2014July 26, 2014

More details on the landslide in Askja volcano

Over the past few days scientists from Icelandic Meteorological Office and University of Iceland, geology department have been studying the massive landslide in Askja volcano. The area is considered unstable as is and might remain unstable for the next year and even longer. Risk of new landslide in Askja is not higher now than normal, but even so the walking paths around Askja lake are going to remain closed due to changes that took place when the flood wave hit the volcanic crater coastline following the landslide.

It remains unclear why this landslide took place. It does not seem that wet soil is the reason for this, as was originally thought. Some speculation have been that this might be due to increased hydrothermal (hot springs) activity in Askja volcano. Nothing has yet been proven on what did cause this large landslide. There have also been news items that a earlier landslide around the same size might have taken place in Askja volcano in the years 1902 to 1960 (exact date is not known). Current size estimates are that the landslide is around 50 million cubic meters in size and around 700 meters wide at the top. More research is going to give more details on this landslide in the future. The seismic signal and following harmonic tremor that was detected following this landslide has a detailed analyse here on Icelandic Meteorological Office website.

If more landslides do happen in Askja volcano I am going to publish that information soon as possible. If more information is going to be published I am going to post them soon as possible.

Donations: Please remember to donate to support my work. Due to my move to Iceland in December I have updated the information here. Please take a note of the changes that are going to take place in January 2015. Thanks for the support.

Article updated at 00:10 UTC on 26-July-2014.

July 23, 2014July 24, 2014

Updated information on Askja volcano landslide

This is a short update on Askja volcano landslide.

Travel ban is still in effect to Askja volcano. Parts of it are going to be lifted later today or tomorrow, but access to Askja lake is going to remain forbidden at least until Friday, after estimates on risk of new landslides have been performed by Icelandic Meteorological Office and Civil Protection in Iceland (Almannavarnir). Risk of new landslides taking place in this area remains and might remain for many months to come. It is now estimated that 50 to 60 million cubic meters of material did collapse down into Askja lake, but with only part of the material ending up into the lake it self. New estimates on the flood waves that where created now put them around 50 meters high, there was also not one wave that took place, but it is now estimated that four waves took place once the landslide hit the water.

Hiking paths to Askja volcano and Víti have been closed due landslide risk in the area around Askja lake. Please respect this closure since this area is now highly unstable and more landslides might fall without warning.

Update 1: The landslide (or rock slide as IMO calls this) is now estimated to be around 1 km wide. The tsunami waves that followed this landslide in Askja lake are now estimated to have been around 73 meters high (around Hallgrímskirkja church high). The area remains closed and is now regarded as highly unstable. Risk of new landslides in this area remains high at current time. The amount of soil that did just go into Askja lake is estimated to have been around 24 million cubic meters, with the total amount much higher (this is unconfirmed number).

I will post more information as more is known what happened.

Icelandic news of this

„Bráðabani“ að fara niður að vatninu (mbl.is)
Vígalegur mökkur steig til himins (mbl.is, pictures)
Lukka að þetta gerist um miðnætti (Rúv.is)
Svona lítur Askja út í dag – Myndband (Rúv.is, video of Askja today)
Askja – fyrir og eftir berghlaupið (Rúv.is, this are before and after images of Askja)
Berghlaupið í Öskju eitt það stærsta (Rúv.is, new video of Askja area)

Donations: Please remember to donate to support my work (and keep me away from starving). I will move back to Iceland in December (see here). Thanks for the support.

Article updated at 13:55 UTC.
Article updated at 16:01 UTC.
Article updated at 22:16 UTC.
Article updated at 22:18 UTC.

July 23, 2014July 23, 2014

All traffic to Askja volcano forbidden due to a large landside yesterday (22-July-2014)

According to Icelandic Meteorological Office, a large landslide fell yesterday (22-July-2014) around midnight in Askja volcano, the landslide did go into Askja lake creating a flood wave that was 100 to 200 meters high. It did reach the other end of the crater lake and did flow over its edge, some water did go into Víti crater. This landslide took place in south part of the Askja lake crater (best information I have at the moment). Harmonic tremor was detected following this events, it was recorded for 20 minutes according to news reports (no image since Askja harmonic tremor plot image is missing in IMO website).

A cloud was seen following this landslide, it is not clear if it was steam or just loose dirt material moving up into the air. Early estimates into this landslide are that around 24 million cubic meters of material did come down with this landslide, part of it ending in Askja lake and raising the water levels in Askja lake some two meters (early estimates). Until this matter has been checked by scientist and Almannavarnir in Iceland, all traffic to Askja volcano is forbidden. There is also a risk of more landslides taking place in Askja volcano, since the soil where the landslide took place might not have settled yet. It is highly dangerous to go there under the current conditions and I urge anyone not to go there due to how dangerous this area now is.

Update 1: Image of the landslide can be found here.

I am going to post more information about this once I have more details on this event.

Icelandic news on this

Öll umferð bönnuð um Öskju eftir gríðarlega stóra skriðu (DV.is)
Umferð um Öskju bönnuð eftir stóra skriðu (Rúv.is)
Stór skriða féll í Öskjuvatn (Mbl.is)

Donations: Please remember to donate. While I am going to move back to Iceland in December. I still have to make it until then (somehow). Thanks for the support.

Article updated at 00:34 UTC on 23-July-2014.

July 15, 2014

Earthquake swarm in Katla volcano

Few days ago the uncertainty level around glacier rivers that come from Mýrdalsjökull glacier have been cancelled. However the area remains dangerous due to gases that might collect in pockets in low lying areas. So it is not safe to go close to the glacier rivers from Mýrdalsjökull glacier even if the uncertainty level has been cancelled by the authorities.

Earthquake activity today in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Today (15-July-2014) an earthquake swarm took place in Katla volcano. Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 3,1. Other earthquake that happened where smaller. This earthquake swarm is one of the most dense in the past few weeks and it appears that earthquake activity is once again on the rise in Katla volcano. I am now expecting this earthquake activity to continue. I also think there is a high risk of small eruptions within the Katla volcano caldera. This eruptions would only last for few hours at the most and not even break trough the Mýrdalsjökull glacier. It has to be noted that scientist on duty at Icelandic Meteorology Office does not agree with my opinion. While there is a high risk of this (in my opinion) that this might happen, it does not mean it is going to do so. The best thing that can be done for now is to observe activity in Katla volcano.

If anything more happens. I am going to post update on it soon as possible. Any large earthquakes that happen in Katla volcano do appear clearly on my geophone at Heklubyggð and they can be viewed here. There is also a web camera of Katla / Eyjafjallajökull located here.

July 12, 2014

Lower conductivity detected in glacier rivers from Mýrdalsjökull glacier (Katla volcano)

Today (12-July-2014) it was reported in the news that conductivity in rivers coming from Mýrdalsjökull glacier are showing signs of less conductivity and lower water levels. There is still an uncertainty level in effects around this area, since level of dissolved gases from the rivers remains at close to dangerous levels at current time.

Lower earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Earthquake activity in Katla volcano has dropped below background levels. So there is now less activity taking place in Katla volcano as is, if this quiet is going to remain is impossible to know at current time. This low earthquake activity might change without warning, since that has happened in the past (observed in the past few years).

If anything changes I am going to post update about it soon as possible.

Other: In December-2014 I am going to move back to Iceland. Why that is can be read here (in English).

Donations: Please remember to support my work and keep me from being broke. Thanks for the support.

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