Monitoring – Page 113 – Iceland geology

April 4, 2014April 4, 2014

Earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano

Today (4-April-2014) has been marked by an large earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano. For the moment this earthquake swarm is man made. This earthquake swarm is due the fact that Orkuveita Reykjavíkur is pumping down large amount of water (full of led and other hazardous things) back into the ground. This creates pressure change in the crust and that starts an earthquake swarm in the area. It is possible to monitor this earthquake swarm here on my webicorder website.

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

Activity has been so high in this area today that it has been creating ghost earthquakes on the earthquake map of Iceland.

Some earthquakes on this map are ghost earthquakes due to high earthquake activity in Hengill volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

This earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano is going to continue for as long as they continue to pump down water into the crust in this location. As for the magnitude of the earthquakes that appear during this time is difficult to say. Largest earthquake so far had the magnitude of 2,9, it is also possible that larger earthquakes might take place in this location or nearby location if stress changes due to this activity take place. I don’t know if that is going to happen, but it is worth monitoring for such changes just in case anything happens.

Blog post updated at 20:54 UTC.
Blog post updated at 20:57 UTC.

April 4, 2014

Earthquake swarm on Reykjanes ridge

During the night (4-April-2014) an earthquake swarm took place on the Reykjanes Ridge. Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 3,5 and was felt on land according to information from Icelandic Meteorological Office. This earthquake swarm might still be ongoing, but it only lasted for about 1 hour last night. That is not really long period of activity for an earthquake swarm in this area. It is possible to monitor the earthquake here on my webicorder website. I am going to remove the test card images once I have my Gentoo Linux up and running in few days time.

The earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes Ridge. Green stars mark earthquakes with magnitude larger than 3,0. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Unconfirmed information in news on Rúv.is suggest that this earthquake swarm might have its origin in magma movement at this location. Rather than tectonic activity at the same area. This area often has powerful earthquake swarms. Earthquake swarms in this area often drop in activity for few to several days at the time, before they resume at even more powerful then before. I don’t know if that is going to happen now, there is an good chance that is going to happen now or this might just be it. All that can is possible to do at the moment is to wait and see what happens next.

Update on the hard drive saga: So I did buy a new hard drive. When I did try to use it I found out that the drive I had bought was faulty from the factory. The store has already ordered an replacement hard drive and I should get it on Monday. I hope this issue is resolved by then. I have already received donations to support buying this new hard drive. But that does not mean my financial status is good this month. But it is far better now than in April or the months before it. Thankfully. Thanks for the support. I am currently using my Windows XP (normally just used to play games) hard drive to write this while my Gentoo Linux is out of commission due the hard drive failure.

March 28, 2014March 28, 2014

Earthquake swarm in Grímsfjall volcano

Today (27-March-2014) an earthquake swarm took place in Grímsfjall volcano. This activity is connected to current minor glacier flood from Grímsvötn glacier lake that is now taking place. The glacier flood it self is an minor and is about the same size as an glacier flood from Grímsvötn glacier lake in November-2012.

Earthquake activity in Grímsfjall volcano today (27-March-2014). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Harmonic tremor has been increasing in Grímsfjall volcano following this glacier flood. The leading idea is that the glacier flood is creating this high frequency harmonic tremors. This idea however remains unconfirmed at current time.

Harmonic tremor at 21:13 UTC on 27-March-2013 at Grímsfjall volcano. The harmonic tremor starts at the end of this plot. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Harmonic tremor at 22:55 UTC on 27-March-2014. As can be seen the high (blue line) harmonic tremor is increasing at the moment. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

At present time there is nothing to suggest that an eruption has or is about to start in Grímsfjall volcano. However Grímsfjall volcano is unpredictable and highly active when it comes to eruptions. If an eruption starts in Grímsfjall volcano it might do so without an warning. Earthquake activity in Grímsfjall volcano would increase sharply just before the eruption would start as was the case before the eruption in 2011 (covered here). More detailed monitoring can of Grímsfjall volcano and other volcanoes in Vatnajökull glacier can be found here (Icelandic).

Advertisement: As I did say few days ago. I am adding advertisement back to my websites. Since I need to eat and pay the bills. There however has been a minor issue with my Google Adsense account. An issue that has so far not yet been resolved by Google. Once its resolved I am going to go trough the process of getting my account approved again. I was too detailed back in January when I closed down my Google Adsense account. I hope to have advertisements back before some volcano erupts in Iceland.

March 27, 2014

Earthquake activity in Hekla volcano continues

Today (27-March-2014) during the night three earthquakes took place in Hekla volcano. This were typical earthquakes and like those that have been taking place earlier in March. What this earthquake activity means I do not yet know. The magnitude of this earthquakes was in the range of 0,7 to 0,8 with the depth of 9,7 to 8,3 km.

The earthquakes in Hekla volcano system. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

So far there are no signs of an imminent eruption in Hekla volcano. It remains unclear what this earthquake activity means. Since Hekla volcano normally does not have this type of activity before an eruption. But everything is a first sometimes.

Geophone network

Due to some type of internet failure my geophone at Hekla volcano is not updating. It is working but only in local capability. I am not receiving the data from it over the internet as I should do normally. I do not know when this is going to be fixed. This also means that the web camera (I don’t own them or run them) are also not updating for the same reason. Míla web camera for Hekla volcano is working, but it is at greater distance.

The geophone at Bjarghús is offline due to connection issue with 3G. I am currently working on solving this issue. I hope that it is resolved tomorrow (before the weekend). That geophone is also working but I am not receiving its data over the internet.

Eyrarbakki geophone station is no longer in operation. The person who was hosting it for me was unable to host it any more. The hardware is going to be re-located in Húnaþing Vestra in December. I don’t have an location yet for it. But I am working on finding an new location for it.

March 24, 2014

Three earthquakes in Hekla volcano. Earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano

For the past 24 hours tree earthquakes so far have been recorded in Hekla volcano. There is no sign of eruption or anything other than earthquakes taking place at present time.

The earthquake activity in Hekla volcano (top left). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

It is possible to monitor Hekla volcano here for earthquakes (almost real-time data).
Here is an list of web cameras that point to Hekla volcano.
Míla web camera of Hekla volcano can be viewed here.
IMO earthquake web page can be viewed here.

Currently there is bad weather in south Iceland that makes observation and monitoring of Hekla volcano difficult.

Earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano

Yesterday (23-March-2014) and Today (24-March-2014) an earthquake swarm took place in Hengill volcano. This earthquake swarm has its source in water being pumped down into the ground from Orkuveita Reykjavíkur (geothermal plant in this area).

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

This are not volcano related. This happens when cold water (polluted) is being pumped back into the ground. That makes earthquake swarms like this one common.

March 22, 2014March 22, 2014

Deep earthquake in Hamarinn volcano

Yesterday (21-March-2014) an extremly deep earthquake took place in Hamarinn volcano (part of Bárðarbunga volcano often called Loki-Fögrufjöll). The magnitude of this earthquake was just 1,4 but its depth was around 29,7 km. The location of this earthquake was just 10,4 km North-East of Hamarinn volcano (main). So it possibly was inside Hamarinn main volcano system, but I am not sure on that detail.

The earthquake activity in Hamarinn volcano and Öræfajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Earthquakes that take place this depth happen due to magma movement or small dike intrusion at depth. I don’t know what is the actual case here, this might just be an earthquake at depth. The crust has the depth of 40 km at this location (study on this can be found here) due to hotspot [second link here] activity that has increased the thickness of the crust. Last eruption in Hamarinn volcano was in July 2011, it was an minor eruption that took place and lasted just for few hours and did not breach the glacier.

Post updated at 21:02 UTC.

March 21, 2014March 21, 2014

Two earthquakes in Hekla volcano. Deep earthquake in Katla volcano

Yesterday (20-March-2014) and today (21-March-2014) there were earthquakes in Hekla volcano. The earthquake yesterday had the magnitude of 1,2 and depth of 9,1 km. The earthquake today had the magnitude of 1,2 and the depth of 7,1 km.

The two earthquakes in Hekla volcano and the deep earthquake in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

This earthquake activity does not mean Hekla volcano is about to erupt. What this means is unclear at present time.

Katla volcano

Today there was also an deep earthquake in Katla volcano. This earthquake had the magnitude of 1,4 and the depth of 21,8 km. Earthquakes at this depth are due to some change in the magma at depth. This however does not mean Katla volcano is about to erupt. Far from it. Earthquake activity in Katla volcano is normal and possibly below normal activity, it is at least certainly not above winter earthquake activity at present time.

Monitoring

It is possible to monitor Hekla and Katla volcanoes here on IMO website.
I have my webicorder website here.
I have list of online web cameras here.
Live from Iceland web camera can be found here.

Icelandic news about this

Tveir jarðskjálftar við Heklu (mbl.is)

March 20, 2014

No imminent eruption in Hekla volcano

There have been rumours that Hekla volcano is about to erupt. This is according to Rúv News, Icelandic Meteorological Office and Icelandic Civil Protection authorities. Currently there are no signs of imminent eruption in Hekla volcano, it’s as quiet as it has been for the past 14 years. That is going to change one day, but at the moment everything is quiet. What is being done now is that Icelandic Authorities are setting up warning signs (new ones) to warn people and provide guidance in advance in the case an eruption starts. Since eruption can and has started with a short notice in Hekla volcano in the past and short notice eruption is going to take place in the future. When that might be is not something that can be predicted at current time.

Geological scientists are also installing more gas monitoring hardware up close to Hekla volcano. They hope to spot changes in gas release some time before an eruption takes place. It is untested if this is going to work. Doing this also has some issues, since weather and wind can make it difficult to detected the gas that comes out from the ground. Along with other issues that I don’t know the details of.

If people want to monitor Hekla volcano them self. They can do so on-line at following internet websites.

Webicorders (The station named Hekla, earthquakes, harmonic tremor appear here)
Web camera Hekla (Heklubyggð, same location as my geophone)
Míla Hekla webcamera (live stream)
Rúv Hekla webcamera (currently not working)
Icelandic Meteorological Office Hekla web-page (Icelandic)
IMO Mýrdalsjökull earthquake map also has Hekla volcano on it (top left). It’s updated every 5. min, and anything that happens in Hekla volcano is going to appear on this page.

If anything happens in Hekla volcano it is going to appear clearly on the above links.

Icelandic Civil Authorities warning sign about what to do if there is an eruption in Hekla volcano. Orignal pdf file can be found here.

Click on the image for full size. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Civil Authorities (Almannavarnir).

Icelandic and English news of Hekla volcano

Hekla Volcano Eruption Hazard Signs Put Up (Iceland Review)

Engin merki um að Hekla sé að bæra á sér (Rúv.is, Icelandic)
Gasmælingar aukast við Heklu (Visir.is, picture of a gas monitoring station, Icleandic)

March 17, 2014

More magma in Hekla magma chamber then before 2000 eruption

According to news today on mbl.is there is now more magma in Hekla volcano then before the 2000 eruption. The news says that since the year 2006 there has been more magma in Hekla magma chamber then before the last eruption in the year 2000. This has not meant an eruption so far. Hekla volcano magma chamber have the depth of around 10 to 20 km. This means this inflation that is now taking place does not appear clearly on the surface, but changes are being measured by GPS system that Icelandic Meteorological Office has. This is also appearing on GPS instruments that geological department University of Iceland has. Even if inflation is now more in Hekla volcano then during the eruptions in the year 1991 and 2000 it does not mean that next eruption is going to be bigger. Since the size of the eruption depends on how much of the magma is mobile in the magma chamber. That amount remains unknown until eruption takes place and even then not all of the mobile magma might erupt.

It is also pointed out in the news that it is risky to go on top of Hekla volcano as is. At least while no eruption has taken place currently. Since the risk of eruption is in place and the time from magma starts to move and until eruption takes place is short. Often less then 1 hour. It is advised in this news that people should not go on top of Hekla volcano. The risk is that eruption starts and trap people on top of the volcano, with deadly consequences.

It is possible to read the Icelandic news here. Please use Google Translate with care. It’s not always correct.

Kvikusöfnun meiri í Heklu en árið 2000 (mbl.is)

Donation notice: Please remember to donate and support my work (I am having one of the bad and awful months now). Thanks!

March 14, 2014March 14, 2014

Increasing conductivity in Skeiðará glacier river (Grímsfjall volcano)

Since 20-January-2014 there has been increase in conductivity in Skeiðará glacier river that comes from Vatnajökull glacier. The reason for this change is that water is leaking from Grímsfjall volcano. Water levels have also been increasing and dropping during this time since this started.

The conductivity in Skeiðará glacier river from 20-January-2014. Picture from Icelandic Meteorological Office Facebook page. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Conductivity is now measured at 416 µS/cm and according to Icelandic Meteorological Office that is an high value coming from Grímsfjall volcano. This water also goes trough several lakes and before it reaches the sensor at Gígjukvísl bride. So at the source of Skeiðará glacier river this value is probably even higher. No major earthquake activity and no harmonic tremor activity has taken place following this water leak from Grímsvötnum glacier lakes. But it appears that some glacier quakes might be taking place at the moment. Such activity can be seen here on IMO website. Currently the volume of water in Grímsvötn glacier lakes is small since the eruption that took place in Grímsfjall volcano in the year 2011. Coverage of that eruption can be found here. At current time nothing more is expected to happen.

Donation notice: Please remember to support my work with donation. Otherwise I am going to have really bad month of March-2014 food wise. Thanks for the support.

Cookie acceptance