Earthquakes – Page 120 – Iceland geology

March 31, 2013

Deep earthquakes in Askja and Kverkfjöll volcanoes

This is a update for both Askja and Kverkfjöll volcanoes. Since they both had deep earthquakes today. None of this earthquakes where larger then magnitude 1.0. There depth was around 22 to 24 km inside the volcanoes them self.

Earthquakes in Kverkfjöll and Askja volcanoes. There depth was around 22 to 25 km. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

GVP Kverkfjöll volcano profile. GVP Askja volcano profile.

It is impossible to know for sure what this means in terms of future activity. But this are both active volcanoes and should be treated as such.

March 29, 2013

Magnitude 3.5 earthquake south of Langjökull glacier

Today at 17:24 UTC a magnitude 3.5 earthquake took place south of Langjökull glacier. This earthquake had pre-earthquakes with the magnitudes from 2.1 and up 2.8. There where also several smaller earthquakes at the same location. This earthquake did appear clearly on my geophones in south and north Iceland. My webicorders can be viewed here.

Langjökull earthquake activity today. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

This appears to be normal tectonic earthquake swarm that are common for this area. They are not related to any volcano activity at present time. But this area often has earthquake activity with it being connected to any volcano activity. The earthquake swarm is continuing when this blog post is published. This earthquake swarm might stop at any time, or pick up at any time without a warning. If that happens. I am going to write a new blog post about it soon as possible.

March 29, 2013March 29, 2013

Magnitude 4.4 earthquake north of Kolbeinsey Island

Today at 17:32 UTC there was a magnitude 4.4 earthquake north of Kolbeinsey Island. I do not know if this earthquake was tectonic or volcanic in nature. I do know that there where several aftershocks following this earthquake. Since I did register them on my geophone in north Iceland. The geophone web site can be viewed here. More information about the earthquake can be found here, on EMSC web page.

Regional view of the area where the earthquake took place. Copyright of this image belongs to EMSC.

Icelandic Meteorological Office did also detected many of this earthquakes that took place there. But detection from this location is difficult due to distance from the SIL network.

The earthquake swarm location according to Icelandic Meteorological Office. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

For now this is just a earthquake swarm and nothing else. Regardless of what happens later. Earthquake activity has been common in this area of the rift zone for several months now. I do not know why that is. The ocean depth in this area is around 3 to 4 km where it is the deepest. So if an eruption takes place there it is not going to be noticed due to the depth of the ocean.

March 26, 2013March 26, 2013

Deep earthquakes in Askja volcano

Today (26.03.2013) at 08:09 UTC there where three deep earthquakes in Askja volcano. The most depth of this earthquake swarm was 25.5 km. None of the earthquake had the magnitude above 2.5. The strongest earthquake had the magnitude 2.1 with the depth of 20.4 km

Earthquakes in Askja volcano. Askja is located to the north of Vatnajökull glacier and the lake is round in shape on this map. Marked by the orange dots on it. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

This activity is part of an progress that started in Askja volcano back in the year 2010. So far this has not lead to any eruption. But it has created some odd changes. Along one was that Askja lake was ice free last year (winter 2012). The reasons for that are still not known to me.

Blog post updated at 16:32 UTC on 26.03.2013.

March 21, 2013

Two earthquakes on Reykjanes ridge

During the night and last night (20.03.2013) there where two earthquakes on the Reykjanes ridge. Location of this earthquakes is not the same and several hundreds of km between them. So they are in fact not connected at all. This is just by chance this activity takes place at the same time. As often is the case in this type of area.

The first earthquake was an magnitude 5.4 earthquake deep on the Reykjanes ridge. This earthquake was on 10 km, or at least that is the best estimate by EMSC. The distance from Reykjavík is about 1100 km. More information on this earthquake can be found here on EMSC web site.

The magnitude 5.4 earthquake deep on the Reykjanes ridge. Copyright of this image belongs to EMSC.

The second earthquake was an magnitude 4.3 earthquake, with the default depth of 10 km according to GFZ. It had the distance about 850 km from Reykjavík. More information on this earthquake can be found here on EMSC web site.

The magnitude 4.3 earthquake on the Reykjanes ridge. Copyright of this image belongs to EMSC.

It is impossible as before to know what is happening on at this location. Due to the depth of the ocean at this place and how remote this location is.

March 21, 2013

New earthquake in Hekla volcano

This morning there was an earthquake in Hekla volcano at 08:23 UTC. This earthquake had the magnitude of 1.4 according to the reviewed data from Icelandic Meteorological Office. The depth of this earthquake was 11,2 km. But that is considerable depth for this location. This is most likely not tectonic earthquakes. But it is hard to be sure on that detail as of this moment.

The earthquake in Hekla volcano is marked by an orange dot on this map. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

I do not have a clue what Hekla volcano is up to at the moment. But this is highly unusual activity for this volcano. Since normally there are no earthquakes in Hekla volcano until just before an eruption takes place in it. For the moment. The only thing that can be done now is to monitor what is taking place in Hekla volcano.

March 20, 2013

Earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes ridge

Today (20.03.2013) at 10:51 UTC an earthquake swarm started on the Reykjanes ridge. This earthquake swarm was about 850 km away from Reykjavík so it was not felt. This also gives little information on what is happening in this location. Since the depth of the ocean at this location is around 2 to 3 km. The largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 4.8 according to automatic EMSC results. The range of magnitude that was detected is from 4.6 to 4.8. The estimated depth is around 10 km. But that might not be correct.

The location of the strongest earthquake in this swarm on the Reykjanes ridge. Copyright of this image belongs to EMSC.

More information on the strongest earthquake in this swarm can be found here, on the EMSC web site. I do not know if activity is going to continue in this place. This location is just too remote to know that for sure.

March 20, 2013

Magnitude 4.8 earthquake deep on the Reykjanes Ridge

During the night there was an earthquake deep on the Reykjanes ridge. This earthquake had the magnitude of 4.8 according to automatic result from EMSC.

The earthquake on the Reykjanes ridge. Copyright of this image belongs to EMSC.

Due to earthquakes location there is not a lot of details on it. But this location on the Reykjanes ridge has been seeing some activity in the past few months. This might well just be normal tectonic activity for this area. More information on this earthquake can be found here.

March 18, 2013

Earthquake activity in Esjufjöll volcano

Earthquake activity has started again in Esjufjöll volcano after some time with no activity. The two earthquakes that where detected by the SIL network only had the magnitude of 1.0 and 1.1. But what is most interesting is there depth. But registered depth is around 0.1 km (around 100 meters). This really shallow depth for earthquakes in this location. While it is unclear what is creating this earthquake activity. The most likely reason is that an minor dike intrusion is taking place in the volcano. Last eruption in Esjufjöll volcano is believed to have taken place in the year 1920. But that has not been properly confirmed yet.

Earthquake activity in Esjufjöll volcano is marked by the red dots in Vatnajökull glacier. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

It is impossible to know for sure what is happening in Esjufjöll volcano. Not only is there little known about earlier eruption history of this volcano. It has also been poorly studied in the past. So what to expect if anything happens is not known properly. Based on earlier earthquake activity in this volcano from the year 2011 more earthquakes might happen in next few days to months. But it is impossible to know that for sure at the moment. But it is not an bad idea to monitor this volcano for any more activity in next few weeks.

March 17, 2013

Earthquake activity intensifies in Skjaldbreið

The earthquake activity that started in Skjaldbreið yesterday continues. This earthquake activity has been picking up in number of earthquakes. But when this blog post is written no earthquake has been over magnitude 2.0. That however might change if this earthquake activity picks up more from the current activity level.

Earthquake activity in Skjaldbreið south of Langjökull glacier. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

It is hard to know what is going to happen in this earthquake swarm. But earthquake activity in this area is often “slow”, in the terms it is slow to start and reaching its high point. If that is going to happen now is impossible to know. All that can be done is to watch and see how this earthquake swarm progresses and if any stronger earthquakes start to appear. Stronger earthquakes might not appear at all in this earthquake swarm. But they also cannot be ruled out.

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