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Overview of Hamarinn volcano current activity

Here is a short overview of the Hamarinn volcano activity this summer. From what I can gather in the current data this is most likely not over. During the past few days there have been at least suspected two minor eruption in Hamarinn volcano. But it hard to confirm it due to glacier that is covering this area.

This all starts on 12. July 2011 at 07:30 UTC with this event here.


The tremor spike on 12. July 2011 at 07:49 UTC. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

When the clock is around 19:10 UTC the same day the tremor chart looks like this.


The tremor spikes are now three on 12. July 2011 at 19:09 UTC. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

On the 13. July 2011 the tremor plot looks like this. But at that time the glacier flood had started and broken from the Vatnajökull glacier.


The tremor chart at 13. July 2011 at 01:10 UTC. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


The tremor chart at 13. July 2011 at 12:59 UTC. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Then there was a short period of break when nothing interesting happened in Hamarinn volcano. That break did last until 16. July 2011 when a new, but smaller spike did appear on Skrokkalda SIL station.


The tremor at 16. July 2011 at 15:22 UTC. It is not fully clear what did happen at this time. But this was most likely a earthquake in Hamarinn volcano. But that is yet unconfirmed at this time. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Then there is a new break that lasts until 1. August when a earthquakes happens deep under Bárðarbunga volcano. But the deepest earthquake had the depth of 25.2 km. But it is also important to notice this earthquake that took place on 13. July 2011 and it is from Hamarinn volcano.


The earthquake from Hamarinn volcano. This picture is released under Creative Commons licence. Please see licence web page for more details.

On the 3. August 2011 around 02:00 UTC a new harmonic tremor spike starts to be visible on Skrokkalda SIL station.


The tremor plot at 01:55 UTC on 3. August 2011. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This day two minor harmonic tremor happens. A change in Skaftá glacier river is noticed. That is higher conductivity and slightly more water. It was announced in the news that a Skaftá glacier river flood was about to start from the eastern glacier cauldron that is formed above the Hamarinn volcano. Today however that does not seem to be the case. As no glacier flood has taken place so far.

Today (5. August 2011) there was a new harmonic tremor spike on Skrokkalda SIL station. It did follow the same pattern as before. It started and lasted for about 20 to 60 minutes or about that long.


The tremor chart 5. August 2011 at 17:38 UTC. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

So far today only one harmonic tremor has been detected. But given the past experience that is unlikely to hold for a long time now. But it is impossible to know when a new event starts or how big it is going to be.

The original event on 12. July 2011 did create new cauldron in the glacier. This map from Icelandic Met Office shows the location of those new cauldrons. But it has been marked with a star on the map. The coloured dots are earthquakes in this area over the past few years.


Map of the area that is currently active in Hamarinn volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Given the current data I am expect a full scale eruption in this area soon. When is hard to know for sure. But until that happens there are going to be more smaller eruptions in this area. I do not know why there is a lack of earthquakes following this events. I cannot explain it. But because of that this can only be seen after it has started on the tremor charts.

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Hekla volcano earthquake from early this morning

Here is the earthquake that took place in Hekla volcano this morning. This earthquake was small, just ML2.02 with the depth of 4.8 km. Because of how close this earthquake was to my geophone at Heklubyggð it did appear clearly on it.


The earthquake at Hekla volcano this morning. This picture is released under Creative Commons License, see License web page for more details.

No aftershocks where recorded after this earthquake and nothing suggests that a Hekla volcano is about to erupt at present time. But that can change without warning at any time.

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Earthquake swarm starts on the Reykjanes Ridge

It appears that a earthquake swarm has started on the Reykjanes Ridge. This earthquake swarm appears to have started with a earthquake that is ML3.6 to ML4.0 in size or larger. But I don’t think it is a Mb5.0 in size. On the earthquake list on the Icelandic Met Office web site there are several ghost earthquakes. But I did just record one earthquake on my geophones.


The current area of activity on the Reykjanes Ridge. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This looks like a normal earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes Ridge. So far nothing suggests that this means a eruption is about to start in this area. But that might change without warning since this is a volcano area.

I am going to update this blog post if there are any more strong earthquakes on the Reykjanes Ridge.

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Sharp rise in harmonic tremor on Skrokkalda and Grímsfjall SIL station (among others)

There is a sharp rise in harmonic tremor on the Skrokkalda and Grímsfjall SIL station. I do not know yet what volcano is responsible for it. But the Hamarinn volcano is a suspect at the moment.

Current tremor plot.


The tremor spike is at the end of this tremor plot. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


The tremor spike is at the end of this tremor plot. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

I am going to post more information about what is going on when I know more. This blog post might get updated soon if needed.

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How donations help me

This is a off-topic post.

Here is a little background information on how donations help me in the long run and the short run.

First some background information

First when I did start the donation route. I was unsure about it. As it is not custom to ask for money in Iceland and in Icelandic culture it is short of shame. I do not know why that is. That is why it did feel uncomfortable doing this for the first time around. At current time my main stable income is social welfare that is around 150500 ISK, 910€, 1293$, 794 GBP, 6785 DKK at current exchange rate. It has moved up a little since I moved back to Iceland as it was due to some extra that I get on top of the basic social welfare when I am living in Iceland.

As can be seen this is not to live on. It is even less when I am paying down my debt as fast that I possible can. But I am going to try and pay down my debt in around 7 months. If I can do that, I can move back to Denmark in early in the year 2013. Then I can move without much problems.

Now the main story

But in order for all this to work up. I need slightly more income then I get from social welfare. As it turns out that I need to buy food (we human apparently need to eat to survive). But I also need to pay my bills. Both in Iceland and Denmark (mobile phone) but also what I need to buy to eat. Now, because I am going to school and I am going to be living in a dormitory (with a lot of 16 to 17 year old kids) I won’t have to buy food from Monday to Friday. Except snack and something of that nature. But I also plan to buy subscription to DR 1 to maintain my Danish while in Iceland.

Donations help me to pay the bills and buy food. But they also help me pay down my debt faster then I otherwise would have done.

What you get in return for donating

Endless supply for blog posts on what is going on in Iceland. I also give in details when I can what is going on in Iceland, and if I can why. People how donate also get a free e-book (only pdf format) if they want. But that is just e-books about past eruptions in Iceland. I also maintain this blog and do all the service parts that need to be done (that I can anyway) myself. I also answers all the emails that I get when I have the time to do so. I also provide live information from my geophone (started years earlier, but have now been integrated into this now).

The work behind each blog post

I do not know if people release this. But I put a great work into each and every blog post I make. I try to do my best when a eruption suddenly starts to get information on what is going on. This is also what people get when they donate. My work on each blog post about Icelandic volcano that is making it self heard in Iceland. But you also get blog post about earthquakes, harmonic tremors, glacier flood and everything else if it is related to Iceland geological activity. Sometimes if I have time I try to write about the history of Iceland past eruptions. But it takes me from 1 hour and up to 8 hours to write one blog post, depending on size and details of the blog post in question.

What about the advertisement ?

While advertisements is a attempt to increase my income with something else then donations. It is has not been going to so good, as the income is somewhat irregular and I might only get paid 1 to 4 month or not even that often. They do help, no doubt about that. But they depend on traffic and I only get high traffic when something interesting is happening.

What is planned for the future ?

This blog is going to be free as it has always been. I am considering opening up a forum with Invasion Power Board. But that also costs money, so I might not know when I get around to buy it. As it expensive and I am trying to save money to move back to Denmark. So it has made it into my todo list for now. When it might become a reality is a question. But no later then 2013 if everything goes according to plan.

I want to make a living of writing. This is just a step in that direction.

I also want to thank everything for the support so far. It helps more then you know! 🙂

P.S: I am going to publish my first short story soon as a e-book. When it might happen I am not sure yet. But it is just going to a really short story that I am about to publish.

Blog post updated at 18:13 UTC on 2.08.2011.

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Interesting earthquakes in Bárðarbunga volcano system (Hamarinn volcano)

At 02:06 and 02:07 UTC there where interesting earthquakes in Bárðarbunga volcano system. What makes them interesting is that fact they did happen at 0.6 km depth one of them. But this area did see some volcano related activity (speculated) earlier this summer, that did result in large glacier flood. But it has been suggested that a minor eruption took place there around 10. July 2011.


The two earthquakes can be seen as spikes at the end of this tremor plot from Icelandic Met Office. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

What makes this earthquakes so interesting is that they seem to have a low period component in them. But it was seen on the Kálfafell SIL station, and other SIL station that was decent distance from the source of the earthquake.


The two earthquakes can be seen as spikes at the end of this tremor plot from Icelandic Met Office. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Currently there is nothing that suggests that a eruption is about to start in this area. But that can change without warning given the current status of Hamarinn volcano system.

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Glacier flood has started in Skaftá river

The latests news is that a glacier flood has started in Skaftá river. At the moment this glacier flood does not appear to be big, as there was also a glacier flood in this river last year. Because of this short time, there has not been a lot of water collected in the western cauldron that is emptying now. It was clear today that it was the western cauldron that had emptied when scientists did fly over the area earlier today.

This glacier flood is often early event and has been since the year 1955. Following this glacier flood there is often spike in harmonic tremor because magma goes on the move due to sudden pressure release in this area. So far it has not been able to trigger a eruption in Hamarinn volcano. It remains to be seen if that has changed or not.

Icelandic News about this

Hlaup hafið í Skaftá (Rúv.is, Pictures, Icelandic)
Rennsli eykst í Skaftá (Vísir.is)
Hlaupið komið í Skaftá (mbl.is)

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No glacier flood yet from Hamarinn volcano, but it is on it’s way

At current time (around 20:30 UTC) it has been observed that no glacier flood has started in Skaftá river. But the glacier flood is expected to start in the river around midnight, but the river might start to grow around 19:00 to 21:00 UTC. According to latest news the river has however started to get darker and conductivity in the water has started rise since this morning, but that was the signal that a glacier flood was about to start. Glacier flood tremor have also been dropping in the last few hours according to the latests news that I have seen (but I am hoping for a update on that detail).

The source of this glacier flood is a hydrothermal area in Hamarinn volcano (part of Bárðarbunga volcano). This area also did have a glacier flood last year. But last year there where two glacier floods in Skaftá river in June 2010, see reports here in Iceland at Icelandic Met Office web page.

This hydrothermal area in Hamarinn volcano is in two cauldrons in the Vatnajökull glacier. With time they fill with water that then breaks ice when the pressure is enough in the cauldrons due to water levels. It remains a question if the surprise glacier flood earlier this month from Hamarinn volcano has something to do with this. But at current time that is only speculation. But if the hydrothermal area is unusually highly active, or there has been some change it is hard to know for sure the size of this glacier flood.

Currently however the experts are expecting a small glacier flood due the fact there where two glacier floods from this area last year. But we however have to wait until midnight until we know what is the actual size of this glacier flood.

Icelandic News about this

Skaftárhlaup ekki enn hafið (Rúv.is)
Skaftárhlaupið komið í byggð eftir sólarhring (Vísir.is)
Engin merki um hlaup ennþá (mbl.is)

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Grímsfjall volcano inflates after the large May 2011 eruption

It can be sad that Grímsfjall volcano did not waste any time starting to prepare for next eruption after the large May 2011 eruption. But that eruption was the largest one in at least 140 years or so. This large eruption did mean that there was a large deflation that took place during the eruption. Where the most deflation was around 250mm down, and around 300mm north, and around 350mm east.

Since then Grímsfjall volcano has however been inflating at interestingly high speed. Currently the GPS data shows that it has reached around 250mm east, north and 200mm up since the eruption. But the magma chamber is going to expand horizontal before it expands upwards (think of this in 3D). So it is going to be a while until a inflation upwards is going to be seen.

The GPS data is clear on this as can bee seen here.


Current inflation at 27. July 2011. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is hard to know when Grímsfjall volcano is going to erupt next after this big eruption. But it might take few years until we see a new eruption in Grímsfjall volcano.

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Earthquake swarm and minor harmonic tremor in Katla volcano

There has been a minor earthquake swarm in Katla volcano today. This earthquake swarm started around 09:00 UTC and lasted with breaks until 14:39 UTC. The largest earthquake in this swarm was ML1.7 with the depth of 3.5 km. Following this earthquake swarm there was a small harmonic tremor spike seen on few SIL stations around Katla volcano. It is unknown at this time if there has been a small glacier flood taking place. But if that is the case, it should be known in the next few hours if that is the case or not.


The earthquake swarm in Katla volcano caldera. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


The harmonic tremor spike can be seen on this SIL station. It is located close to the end of tremor plot. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Met Office.


The harmonic tremor spike can be seen on this SIL station. It is located close to the end of tremor plot. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This harmonic tremor is small, but larger then last harmonic tremor that took place in this are about one week ago (far as I can remember). Currently there is nothing that suggests that eruption is imminent. This is just earthquake activity in the same place as it has been for the past five or so weeks.

Sorry for the short blog post. I have gone sick with some cold. No advice needed on how to get rid of it. That is going to take few days on it’s own.