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Low earthquake activity in Iceland

This is not going to surprise anyone how read this blog on regular basis. But earthquake activity and volcano activity in Iceland is minimal those past days. As it has now been for past several weeks. This has sadly lead to less blog post then I like. But I have also been busy. So it has helped in that sense for me. At current rate, the year 2012 is so far the most quiet year that I remember in an long time. I have been monitoring earthquake activity in Iceland more or less since the year 1996.


Current earthquake activity in Iceland on 29. August 2012. As can be seen. Activity is rather slow today. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

While it is quiet in Iceland. I am going to work on other articles about other interesting features in Icelandic geology. They won’t be long. But short and as informal as I can make them. This quiet time might last a bit longer then it already has. I would not expect anything else.

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Deflation stops in Krýsuvík volcano

According to Rúv News today. Deflation has stopped in Krýsuvík volcano. But this is the latest chapter in inflation and deflation episodes that have been taking place in Krýsuvík volcano during the past three years. It is unclear what happens next in Krýsuvík volcano. But an new inflation episode should not be ruled out at this point.

Lat inflation episode started earlier this year (2012) and stopped in May. Then an deflation episode started. It stopped sometimes in August 2012. It is impossible to know for sure when an new inflation episode starts in Krýsuvík volcano. But it is my opinion that is going to be soon. But how soon exactly is impossible to know. Inflation episodes in Krýsuvík volcano have been followed by strong earthquakes swarms. So that are the signs of an inflation period having started in Krýsuvík volcano.

Icelandic news about this

Landsigið er hætt í Krýsuvík (Rúv.is)

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Still no glacier flood in Skaftá glacier river

For reasons that are unknown. No glacier flood has yet taken place in Skaftá glacier river. Even if the western Skaftárketill cauldron in Vatnajökull glacier has emptied. It is now expected that Hamarinn eastern cauldron is going to empty it self soon. But when that might happen is impossible to know for sure.


Ice-quake activity continues in Vatnajökull glacier. But that suggests the water is on the move under the glacier. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

The glacier flood is expected to be small. But it won’t go unnoticed once started. As the glacier river get’s darker and conductivity in the water increases greatly during the flood. I am going to try and keep an eye out for more information on this glacier flood.

Icelandic News about this

Ekkert hlaup hafið (Rúv.is)

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More fine ash in the volcano ash cloud from Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption then predicted (2010)

Rúv News had an interesting news bit about Eyjafjallajökull volcano this evening. It was about the eruption that took place in the year 2010. While Europe did not get a lot of volcano ash as expected. The amount of fine volcano ash in the air during this period was more then expected. A lot more according to a research into the ash cloud that happened in April 2010. This volcano ash is an danger to air planes and jet engines.


The volcano ash in question. Copyright of image belongs to Birgit Hartinger. Image used with permission.

The amount of fine volcano ash was underestimated by observing satellites. As they did not see this volcano ash clearly or just not at all according to the news about this study. The amount of fine volcano ash in the air at the time was about ten times more then current model predicted during the eruption. This study did use data from 400 observing areas. The study it self is published in Scientific Report. I have not located this study as of yet.


The ash cloud from Eyjafjallajökull volcano in the year 2010. Public domain picture by NASA/NOAA. (I think. Correction are welcomed.)

I am not sure what this means in terms of the flight ban that was in the effect when the eruption took place. But one thing is sure. The areas that where considered free of volcano ash simply might not have been that in reality.

Icelandic news about this

Lítið af gosefnum til Evrópu (Rúv.is, Icelandic)

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Glacier flood has started from west Skaftárketill cauldron in Vatnajökull glacier

Yesterday an glacier flood started form west Skaftárketill cauldron. But that is an hydro-thermal area inside Hamarinn volcano (Bárðarbunga volcano system). The glacier flood is expected to be small. Last year in July there was also an glacier flood from this area of Vatnajökull glacier. But that was due to minor eruption in this area (it was poorly documented by scientists. I do not know why that is). But now it is melt-water from hydro-thermal area that is causing this glacier flood.

But glacier floods like this happen every 1 to 3 years from this area. Following this glacier flood an swarm of glacier-quakes have been detected in this part of Vatnajökull glacier. Flood in western Skaftárkatli might trigger a glacier flood in the eastern skaftárkatli cauldron. But it is not known if that is actually going to happen this time. It is not expected that current glacier flood is going to be a large one. But there is an risk of Hydrogen sulfide poisoning if people are close the glacier river during the glacier flood. So it is not recommend to go close to the glacier river due to this risk. The glacier flood is expected to appear from under Vatnajökull glacier in the next 5 to 6 hours. It is expected to last around 2 to 3 days at most.


Glacier quakes in Vatnajökull glacier following this glacier flood. This glacier quakes are not strong and do not show up on automatic SIL system. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.


Glacier quake activity as it appears on SIL seismometers around Vatnajökull glacier. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.


Glacier quake activity as it appears on SIL seismometers around Vatnajökull glacier. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.


Glacier quake activity as it appears on SIL seismometers around Vatnajökull glacier. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.


Click on this image for full size. This plot here shows output from several SIL stations. This image was released by Icelandic Meteorological Office today. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

It is believed that sometimes following this type of glacier floods from this area in Vatnajökull glacier there are small eruptions, or steam events as the pressure on the hydro-thermal system drops . That in turns allows for some magma movement that is powering the hydro-thermal system in this area of Vatnajökull glacier. It is impossible to know for sure if that is going to happen now. But it is good idea to keep an eye-out for such events taking place in Hamarinn volcano. Given the minor eruption that took place there last year.

Here is an comparison of the events that took place last year compared to the events that are currently taking place in Hamarinn volcano.


Harmonic tremor subsiding from Hamarinn volcano on 13. July 2011. The following glacier flood appears clearly on this tremor plot from Icelandic Meteorological Office. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

I was seeing activity to November 2011 after the activity in July 2011.


One of the last harmonic tremor activity that I did see in Hamarinn volcano during the year 2011. But this took place on 7. November 2011. After this point it did go quiet. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

I do not expect any volcano eruption in Hamarinn volcano at this point. But such things are impossible to know for sure. As Hamarinn volcano has not been studied in details until after the year 2011 eruption.

Icelandic news about this glacier flood

Hlaup hafið í Skaftá (Rúv.is)
Verður væntanlega ekki mikið hlaup (Rúv.is)
Hlaup að hefjast í Skaftá (Vísir.is)
Aldrei verið jafnfljótir að sjá hlaupið (Vísir.is)
Skaftárhlaup hafið (mbl.is)

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New earthquake swarm in Katla volcano

This morning at 07:03 UTC on 21. August 2012 an earthquake swarm started in Katla volcano. This earthquake swarm lasted for few minutes with the last earthquake taking place at 07:50 UTC. No harmonic tremor was detected following this earthquake swarm in Katla volcano. Update 1: The largest earthquake in this earthquake swarm had the magnitude of 2.6 at the depth of 0.1 km.


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

It is impossible to know for sure what this activity means. But this might just be normal autumn activity in Katla volcano. I am expecting more earthquake activity in Katla volcano in next few days to weeks.

Icelandic news about this earthquake activity

Skjálfti í Mýrdalsjökli (Rúv.is, Icelandic)
Jarðskjálfti upp á 3,1 stig í Mýrdalsjökli (Vísir.is, Icelandic)
3,1 stigs skjálfti í Mýrdalsjökli (mbl.is, Icelandic)

Blog post updated at 15:18 UTC on 21.08.2012. I have not yet fully recovered from the heat wave. I forgot the important information about this swarm. They have now been added.

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Earthquake swarm in progress in Krýsuvík volcano

Today (18.08.2012) at 15:52 UTC an earthquake swarm did start in Krýsuvík volcano. So far this swarm is not big. With the largest earthquake having magnitude 1.8 according to automatic size. It is impossible to know at this point if this earthquake swarm is going to be strong, or has just ended. So far earthquake activity continues with minor earthquakes.


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

If the earthquake activity picks up. I am going to do my best to update this blog. But I am on limited 3G internet connection. So it might be a while until update takes place.

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Earthquake in Katla volcano today (17.08.2012)

Today at 15:48 UTC there was an magnitude 3.8, at the depth of 0.1 km in Katla volcano. This earthquake took place on the caldera rim in Katla volcano. No major harmonic tremor was detected following this earthquake. However some harmonic tremor was detected. But it was minor. This might have been hydro-thermal-activity or magma on the move. It is impossible to know for sure what is the case now. This earthquake did appear clearly on my geophone network. Mostly on the geophone station at Skeiðflöt and Heklubyggð.


The location of the earthquake in Katla volcano. It was located on the edge of Katla volcano caldera. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.


Influence map of todays ML3.8 earthquake. This suggests that it was not felt in nearby populated areas. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.


Tremor plot that clearly shows the earthquake of today. The spikes are the earthquakes that have been taking place in Katla volcano or close by areas. This is Alftagrof SIL station. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.


This tremor plot shows some minor harmonic tremor following the earthquake in Katla volcano. The spikes show the earthquake from Katla volcano and areas close by. This is Austmannsbunga SIL station. Copyright of this image belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

It is impossible to know what this means exactly. But Katla volcano has been quiet since around middle of July. It remains to be seen if earthquake activity is picking up again or if this was just an single event.

Icelandic news about this earthquake

Jarðskjálfti í Mýrdalsjökli (Rúv.is, Icelandic)
Jarðskjálfti í Mýrdalsjökli (Vísir.is, Icelandic)
Jörð skalf við Austmannsbungu (mbl.is, Icelandic)

Blog post updated at 18.08.2012 at 11:51 UTC. Blog post title fixed for the future.

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Magnitude 3.7 earthquake in Netherlands [Updated]

At 20:30 UTC on 16. August 2012 there was an magnitude 3.7 earthquake in Netherlands according to EMSC web site.


The earthquake in Netherlands at 20:30 UTC (22:30 local time). This earthquake was mostly felt in the area where it did happen. This picture is released under Creative Commons licence. Please see CC page for more details.


Regional view of the area where the earthquake did happen. Copyright of this image belongs to EMSC.


Local view of the area where the earthquake did happen. Copyright of this image belongs to EMSC.

Some have already been speculating this earthquake might be due to gas extraction in this area. That might be. But there is also an chance that might have just been intraplate earthquake that sometimes happens. There might be other factors at work here that I do not know about. But I am not well into local geology of this area at current time.

It is hard to know if any aftershocks are going to take place. But I find them unlikely at current moment. But that might change without warning.

Blog post has been updated. The earthquake size and location has been revised.

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Earthquakes deep south on the Reykjanes Ridge [Updated]

During last night there has been some earthquake activity deep south on Reykjanes Ridge. This earthquake activity is far from the south coast of Iceland so it has not been noticed by any people. It has only appeared on seismometers. The web page of EMSC has shows the current earthquake activity started at 00:21 UTC with two earthquakes. The largest earthquake recorded in following hours had the magnitude of Mb5.3 according to EMSC web page. But that is automatic size estimate and is subject to a change.


The location of the earthquake deep south on Reykjanes Ridge. Copyright of this image belongs to EMSC.

There most likely have been more earthquakes in this area then are registered by seismometer networks. It seems that earthquake activity in this area has quieted down again. For now at least. But this area is subject to strong earthquake swarms on regular basic.

Blog post updated at 21:33 UTC on 15.08.2012.