Author: Jón Frímann

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Random minor eruptions in El Hierro volcano

It seems that the main eruption is over in El Hierro volcano, for now anyway. For the moment there are minor eruptions taking place in El Hierro volcano. This minor eruptions happen at random times and between them nothing is happening. This is clear by the harmonic tremor data from the sensors that are on the El Hierro Island it self.

This type of behavior is not a big surprise. I fully expected this to happen when this eruption started. The main risk now is that new vents might open up in new places without any warning at all. This seems to have already have happened to some extend. As I have been getting unconfirmed reports that new vents have opened up in this new eruption episodes that have only lasted for few hours. So far this new vents have not opened up on land. But this pattern of eruption increases the risk of that significantly. As magma appears to looking for a way out. But does not find the way out that last, or does not have the pressure to maintain an new vent open for long period of time. The vent that erupted the longest is estimated to be around 125 meter below the surface. So it has been guessed that its above 750 meters high (this is unconfirmed).


Harmonic tremor and lows in El Hierro volcano today. Copyright of this picture belongs to IGN (Instituto Geográfico Nacional).


The harmonic tremor activity yesterday (23.01.2012). As can be seen the activity starts, then stops again. This means that new vents are opening up again. Or that the older vents are opening up and starting to erupt again before stopping. Copyright of this picture belongs to IGN (Instituto Geográfico Nacional).


The activity on 22.01.2012. This as same in the past two days. Activity start before stopping again. Copyright of this picture belongs to IGN (Instituto Geográfico Nacional).

As for what happens in El Hierro volcano in the next weeks to months. It is close to impossible to know for sure what happens. As what happens next depends on the magma flowing into El Hierro volcano. It seems that this eruption is not over. Even if it continues with short breaks between eruption events.


Picture of the activity today (24.01.2012). I got this picture by email. Click on the picture for full size. Copyright holder of this picture wish to remain anonymous. Used with permission.

This picture clearly shows the active area today. There is also an highly active hydro-thermal area where the eruption took place, or have been taking place. There is also some chance of dike intrusions in this area creating new hydro-thermal areas. But dike intrusions can take place without any earthquake activity. If there is an earthquake activity, it does not need to have high amount of earthquake activity. Harmonic tremor can and often increases if an dike intrusion is taking place.

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Earthquake with the magnitude of ML4.7 in Hawaii Island

Last night at 02:36 UTC (23.01.2012) there was an earthquake with the magnitude of ML4.7 in Hawaii Island. This earthquake was felt according to what I have been reading about on the forum. This earthquake activity is most likely due to changes in tectonic stresses in the area. Rather then anything volcanic.


The location of the earthquake. Copyright of this picture belongs to EMSC-CSEM.


Location of the earthquake from USGS. Copyright of this picture belongs to USGS.

The largest aftershock following this earthquake did get the size ML3.1 Earthquake activity is currently ongoing. But I do not know to what extent exactly. Sharp aftershocks should be expected in this area in the next few hours to days.

M 5.0 – ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII – 2012-01-23 02:36 UTC (EMSC)
Magnitude 4.7 – ISLAND OF HAWAII, HAWAII (USGS)

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Earthquake(s) in Hekla volcano

At 17:53 UTC there where two (or one) earthquake(s) in Hekla volcano. They where in the main volcano it self. The size of this earthquakes where ML06 and ML0.7, the depth was 2.5 km and 0.7 km. I am unsure what this means. But there is an slight possibly that an eruption might be under way. But at the moment no eruption has started so far. So only thing that can be done is to wait and see what happens next.


The earthquake in Hekla volcano at 17:53 UTC. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

All that can be done for the moment is wait and see what happens. As so far this is the only earthquake in Hekla volcano. But that can change without warning at any time. I am going to monitor this as best I can this evening. But I am going to be away part of the evening and not close to any internet connection.

Update 1: An second earthquake did happen in Hekla volcano system during this morning. Its size was ML0.8 with the depth of 2.2 km. Other earthquakes that have happened also have been corrected. But the size of those earthquakes where ML1.0 at 0.1 km depth and ML0.7 at 8.3 km depth. Two of this earthquakes (ML0.8 and ML0.7) where not in Hekla volcano it self. But inside Hekla volcano system at good distance from the mountain it self.

Hekla volcano system earthquake during the past 48 hours. Small earthquakes have been taking place in the south end of Hekla volcano system (north of Hvolsvöllur village) for several months now. What this means I have no idea. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

Blog post updated at 18:41 UTC on 22.01.2012.

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Reminder about the volcano and earthquake forum

Besides running this blog and two other blogs. I also have an volcano and earthquake forum. In there it is possible to share pictures, graphs and other useful volcano and earthquake stuff. There also an option for an good off-topic chat. I also offer an online chat for those how are interested in such things.

When I did change then name of this blog. I also changed the name of the forum. So they are now aligned in terms of names. The forum is now called Jón Frímann volcano and earthquake forum.

I hope to see as many people as possible there. 🙂

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El Hierro volcano eruptions ends (again)

Based on the harmonic tremor data in the past few hours it seems that the eruption in El Hierro volcano has ended again. How long or if the eruption has really ended now is impossible to know at the moment. However it is clear based on the tremor activity that all eruption activity has ended and it did so suddenly and after sharp increase in activity several hours before that.


The activity in El Hierro volcano today. Notice the spikes when the eruption suddenly gains energy and how fast it dies out based on the tremor data. Copyright of this image belongs to IGN (Instituto Geográfico Nacional).

Even if the eruption has ended. For the moment anyway. The area where the eruption took place is going to have hydro thermal activity for several months to comes, and up to many years if there are any shallow dike intrusions in the base of El Hierro volcano (and Island). I do not yet know if the eruption has ended, or if this is just an brake in the current eruption cycle. But next few hours to days are going to make it clear if this is an break or not. But I would not be surprised if the eruption started again at the same location, or an new one. As this is shield volcano and there eruption pattern often have breaks in them for shorter and longer periods of time.

Update 1: It has been sad that the graph has once again been re-scaled. To what size I do not know for sure. But in an comment on Facebook it was sad to be around -36dB. If that is the case. I am wrongly interpreting the data. Because of that. I have no idea what is going on in El Hierro volcano at the moment.

Update 2: It seems that activity has renewed again in El Hierro volcano. It started around 04:06 UTC and lasted until around 10:00 UTC. Then it started again at 16:00 UTC and is currently ongoing. This is now an eruption that happens in episodes. That means there are going to be longer and shorter breaks between eruptions in El Hierro volcano.


Activity in El Hierro volcano today. The increase in harmonic tremor marks the start of new eruption in El Hierro volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to IGN (Instituto Geográfico Nacional).

Blog post updated at 00:50 UTC on 20.01.2012.
Blog post updated at 19:31 UTC on 20.01.2012.

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Small earthquake swarm in Hengill volcano

Yesterday (17.01.2012) an small earthquake swarm started in Hengill volcano. This earthquake is in the area where Orkuveita Reykjavíkur (OR) has been pumping down cold water from the hydro-thermal power plant that they have in the area. So far the largest earthquake in this minor earthquake swarm is just ML2.0 in size according to automatic size estimation. The depth of this earthquake swarm is around 5 km.


The earthquake activity in Hengill volcano today and yesterday (17.01.2012 and 18.01.2012). Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

The earthquake activity in this area repeats it self regularly due to water being pumped down into the ground. This has increased the risk of large (Mb5.0 or larger) earthquake in this area. But it is impossible to be sure if such events take place. As this is most likely just going to speed up an process that is already in place by nature forces in Hengill volcano (earthquakes, nothing else). So for the moment, the only thing that can be done is to wait and see what happens next.

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Name change has taken place

Welcome to the same blog, with a new name (again). This blog is now named Jón Frímann volcano and earthquake blog. My focus area is Iceland and Europe. But I also cover events in other parts of the world if I can do so. But that might not always be the case.

The forum has also changed about name, it is now in line with this blog. As they are connected on subjects and what is covered there.

Next is more coverage of volcanoes and earthquakes in Iceland and in other parts of the world. 🙂

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Name change at 21:00 UTC on 18. January 2012

I have made up my mind on how to deal with current identity crises on this blog. It seems that most people want to see this blog called “Jón Frímann earthquake and volcano blog” (or in that direction. This is similar to the name that my other blog has). At least that is what I read from the comments here. I normally make this type of changes in the beginning of the month. But I am going to make an exception this time around. The change is going to happen at 21:00 UTC on 18. January 2012. At the same time the forum is going to change about name. It is going to be called Jón Frímann Volcano and earthquake forum (in accordance with the blog, since they are connected).

The focus areas

While this move allows me to cover all the world. My focus areas are going to be Iceland and Europe on this blog. But I am mostly going to cover Iceland activity, volcanoes and earthquakes. Same goes for the forum. Its main focus is going to be Iceland and Europe. No major changes are going to take place there right away. Besides the name change. The reason for different focus areas is because of the difference in activity

If people have any other suggestion or issue with this idea. Please let me know in time. Thanks.

I am also sorry for this issue that showed it self. I do this because I was not happy with the name, and I also read almost everything about volcanoes everywhere in the world. I also feel that Europe activity is not getting good enough coverage as Iceland once was (that allows for all manners of wrong information to be put forward). Before I started to write about it. I also want to evolve this blog and its subject. I find that to be important thing to do with my work on the internet.

Blog post updated at 18:31 UTC on 18.01.2012.

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Should I expand the coverage of this blog to whole of Europe ?

In the beginning of the new year I changed the name of this blog to include the area that I now cover with this blog. I added Spain and Canary Islands to it. But many people have been asking since I started this blog if I covered events that take place in Europe, as well as Iceland. I have not done so yet. But that might be about to change, if I get a positive feedback from this blog post. I would also change the forum to cover the whole of Europe. How exactly (there are many countries in Europe) I am not sure yet. But I am working in ideas how to deal with it already.

If I expand this blog to whole of Europe it means a lot more work for me. But that also mean that I cannot cover every single small event that happens in Europe. But I would do my best to cover all the major events as they take place. But this change would mean that I would cover whole of Europe as one area. It would not be country special as such. I would name the country with the location in Categories tags.

There are benefits as drawbacks to expanding this blog to whole of Europe. I get more to write about, as dead times in Iceland, Spain and Canary Islands can be covered with other events taking place in Europe. The drawback is that I do not know every fault line, or volcano in Europe. So it might take me a while until I know about all the other volcanoes in Europe. But I can learn about those volcanoes like any other volcano on the planet Earth. This however does not change the fact that I know more about earthquake and volcano activity in Iceland then in other parts of Europe. As I have been watching and studying the activity in Iceland for a lot longer time then I have been watching the activity in Europe. But I have been watching earthquake activity in Europe and around the world for about 14 years now. It is also added benefits of expanding this blog is that I should get more revenue from advertisements. As I should get more traffic then when I am just covering Iceland, Spain and Canary Islands. But donations are often not enough to cover my costs (+other things) of running this blog and my other web pages. This is just the way that is I guess.

It is different how I report earthquake activity in Iceland. For instance. I am not always writing about small earthquake activity that always takes place in many places. Doing so would be waste of my time. Same goes for Spain and Canary Island, where I now report only events that are worth reporting.

It is also an important factor in all this that from this year I am going to move back to Denmark. But I already cover earthquakes that take place there when they happen (every 2 to 10 years) since I have moved to Denmark once before. I want to expand on that to all of Europe. For the reasons I mention above. But I wanted to hear from my readers if this is an good idea or not for me to do. Even if I sometimes think that might be an good idea. Sometimes it turns out that the idea that I had was not.

I am unsure on the name change date if I go trough with this plan. But I would not change it in the middle of the month. I would change it in the beginning of the month. So I have this date to choose from. 1 February, 1 March, 1 April, 1 May, 1 June, 1 July (the latest date that I want to use).

The area that I already cover to date.

Iceland, Jan Mayen (Norway), Spain, Canary Island, Denmark

So please let me know what you think about this in comments.

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Grímsfjall volcano prepares for new eruption

It is clear that Grímsfjall volcano is an restless volcano. In the year 2011 it had the largest eruption for at least 140 years. But even so that does not stop the volcano from preparing new eruption sometimes soon. But I am now expecting an new eruption from Grímsfjall volcano in the next 12 to 48 months or so at the earliest. The preparing for eruption clues have already started to show. But that is an slow increase in earthquakes in Grímsfjall volcano. Something that has always been a clear indicator of that an eruption might not be far off, even if nobody knows when and how big next eruption is going to be. It has been documented that Grímsfjall volcano does sometimes have an eruption every once or two year when the activity is at highest. But since the year 1983 the eruptions in Grímsfjall volcano have been getting more frequent and larger, the largest one so far being last year.


The latest earthquake in Grímsfjall volcano. It has not been reviewed so it’s location might change. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.


GPS data from the past 6 months (I think). As can be seen not a lot of magma has been going into Grímsfjall volcano system since the large eruption that started 21.05.2011. So far the inflation has only been around 100 mm to date, but even so that is more then whole inflation of Eyjafjallajökull volcano in the year 2010. But that was only around 60 mm for comparison. Copyright of this picture belongs to Iceland Meteorological Office.

It is unclear what happens next in Grímsfjall volcano. But for us how watch volcanoes. This is going to mean a lot of waiting time until next eruption in Grímsfjall volcano.