Earthquake activity increases again in Krýsuvík volcano

It appears that Krýsuvík volcano earthquake activity is increasing again. This time around it appears that the earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano has moved more to the west then last weeks earthquake activity.

The biggest earthquake so far is a ML2.1 earthquake with the depth of 6.9 according to automatic data on Icelandic Met Office web page.


Picture is from Icelandic Met Office web site. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

The new earthquake area in Krýsuvík volcano. It is more to the west then the earthquake area that was making earthquakes last week. Activity appears to be picking up slowly. But it is hard to know how this develops over the next few hours or days.

Quiet time in Iceland at the moment

Currently everything is quiet in Iceland. There is little earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano but still ongoing at really slow rate however. Nothing is going on in the volcanoes in Vatnajökull. The TFZ fracture zone is also quiet and has been for some time now. So far only few earthquakes have taken place in TFZ in the last week. But no earthquake swarms have taken place there in a long time now.

In general the activity in Iceland is really quiet. While everything is quiet in Iceland, there is a eruption ongoing in Hawaii. Please see Erik blog for more details.

Change of my plans (off topic)

This is a off-topic to my normal earthquake and volcano topics here. There have been few others like that before this one and I apology for this off topic.

I have been reviewing my plans in last few days because of my economic situation here in Denmark. I have come down to two plans. My plan is now in two parts and it is as follows. But to make it work I might need some help from my readers how have insight into moving into this area (depends on what area I pick). I also might need some donations for the cost of the moving. But I want to say that I am not used to getting donations. So I am bit hesitant to ask for them. But last time I did so was out of pure emergency that I had in regards to my financial status. It is also in my plans that my next move (expect if to Iceland) is going to be a permanent resettlement to a new place. But I do hope that is not going to change do to some other external effects that cannot control.

Plans in the works.

Plan A: Move back to Iceland if my status does not improve. That is if I don’t get a job in Denmark or the status of the Icelandic Króna does not improve by a margin.

Plan B: Option 1: I move to Spain close the Seville city in Spain. Option 2: I move to Italy. The exact location within Italy would be somewhere close to Etna volcano in Sicily, Italy. I have sent a message to a volcanologist that works in this area and we all know. I hope that he can help me in this matter. But this is going to be a well planned move on my part. I estimate that this going to take at last 6 to 12 months to complete from start to end if everything works out properly (only one plan is going to be selected and finished). But I would have to go to Sicily at least once or twice before I move there. So I would have to travel a bit before I move to there. But I also need to find a good apartment in Sicily, Italy and they can be hard to find in this area far as I know.

This is all going to cost a lot of money (the move it self). I am yet to figure out how to pay for that at this moment. But I have started to work on a plan in regards to that. But it might involve getting a higher debt at my bank, even if I don’t like it. My debt would get higher if I have to move back to Iceland anyway. So I did figure that it would be wise to move south, where the prices are cheaper and it might be a possibly to live a decent live there.

I am considering how to deal with this topic here. I might just keep posting this off topic blog post. Even if I find it worse as it breaks up the volcano and earthquake blog posts here. As I don’t really have any other good place for this information. As I find it important to let my readers know what I am up to, as it effects the blog posts on this site. I also want to point that where ever I go. I am going to setup my geophone in order to record earthquakes in that location, or if I move to Etna. Both earthquakes and harmonic volcano tremor when Etna erupts.

The following plans of mine have been canceled for the moment. Move to Germany to watch the West Eifel Volcanic Field. But sometimes I reactive plans if it fits my plans. It is just the way I work in this matters.

Thanks for the support so far and I am sorry for this off topic. 🙂

Update: I just found out that this won’t get any easier for me. But in time I am going to loose the personal tax discount (Icelandic) in Iceland. That is going to mean a serious drop in income for me. I am going to try and figure out how this is going to work in the long run for me. But this still has not put me off my plan yet. I cannot make any sense of the explanation (icelandic) that they give on there web site. As I am unsure how to interpret what they mean by it.

I am also sorry for all this drama that I am creating with my personal problems by writing about them here.

Post updated at 02:32 CET at 6th of March 2011.

Something odd is going on at Krýsuvík volcano [speculation]

Please note! What goes below here are speculations based on what I am observing. Nothing might happen, but then again something might happen. We just have to wait and see what happens when it comes down to it.

I have been observing a slight change in the lower frequency band (0.5 – 1 Hz) at Krýsuvík SIL station. This change reminds me of a harmonic tremor of short. But it is not strong enough to appear clearly on Krýsuvík SIL station. But that SIL station is directly on top of Krýsuvík volcano. There have not been a lot of earthquake following this change in the lower frequency bands at Krýsuvík SIL station.


Picture from Icelandic Met Office web site. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Met Office. This plot was saved at 02:11 UTC on the 05.03.2011. The changes can be seen on 0.5 – 1Hz close to the end.

I am not sure what is going on. But there might be a small chance that this is a magma that is on the move. The second option might also be that a new hydrothermal area did appear close to the Krýsuvík SIL station. If this is magma, then a volcano eruption in the area is not far off (days, weeks, months?). But only time is going to tell for sure what is happening.

Other note: The activity in north Iceland and in the highlands are frost quakes. But it is extremely cold in this area of Iceland at the moment. More frost quakes can appear on IMO maps in the next few hours.

UK government failed preparing for a volcano ash threat from Iceland

According to a news article in The Independent today. It appears that UK government was unprepared for a volcano eruption in Iceland that could send ash cloud in the direction of UK. Like that did happen in Eyjafjallajökull volcano eruption in the year 2010. But according to the same news the UK government dedicated to drop such plans from there risk assessments and planning in the year 2009. A whole year before the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano took place.

This was most likely also the case in other countries in Europe where the ash cloud did come as a surprise to governments across Europe and they did appear to be unprepared for it when it halted all flights in Europe for almost a week.

News about this.

Government failed to act on volcanic ash threat, say MPs (The Independent)
Emergency plans ‘need scientists’ (BBC News)

The Icelandic news respective. Use Google Translate and expect world of mystery to happen.

Voru óviðbúin íslensku eldgosi (mbl.is)
Eyjafjallajökull: Bretar brugðust (Rúv.is)

Earthquake activity continues in Krýsuvík volcano [updated]

Early morning today (2. March 2011) there was a spike of earthquakes in Krýsuvík volcano. This earthquake swarm took place west of Kleifarvatn lake as the main center of the activity has been for the past two years. This type of activity can be expected in Krýsuvík volcano in the coming weeks in my opinion. Both long earthquake swarms and short ones, like the one that did happen early morning today.

The Icelandic Met Office has released a picture showing the earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano from the year 2004. Along with accumulated strain from those earthquakes and other useful data.


Picture is from Icelandic Met Office web page. The Icelandic Met Office owns the copyright to this picture.

Frame 1: Monthly number of earthquakes.
Frame 3: Total number of earthquakes. Second line: Collected strain from earthquakes.
Frame 4: Depth of earthquakes.

Here is a picture of the location of the last week earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík volcano. This is depth view. This view does not contain all the earthquakes that took place in Krýsuvík volcano.


Picture is from Icelandic Met Office web page. The Icelandic Met Office owns the copyright to this picture. Note: Dýpi = Depth

Update: Here is a updated earthquake plot of Krýsuvík volcano. This is the location of the earthquakes in Krýsuvík volcano along with the depth of the earthquakes. This is the earthquakes in Krýsuvík volcano from 25.02.2011 to 02.03.2011. This picture is from here.


Picture is from Icelandic Met Office web page. The Icelandic Met Office owns the copyright to this picture. Note: Dýpi = Depth

A overview picture of the activity in Krýsuvík volcano shows well the fissure direction the earthquakes line them self up on. The direction is almost north-south one. This map does not contain all the earthquake that where recorded in Krýsuvík volcano in last week.


Picture is from Icelandic Met Office web page. The Icelandic Met Office owns the copyright to this picture.

The pictures are from the Icelandic Met Office web site that contains weekly overview of earthquake activity in Iceland. Click on the pictures to get high resolution of them.

I am expecting more earthquake activity in Krýsvík volcano area. But at the moment it is a bit hard to know for sure if this is going to result in a volcano eruption. But in my opinion that is going to be the result in the end. But currently it is all a question about when, rather then if in my opinion.

Update: There was a earthquake with the size ML3.6 at 17:56 UTC according to the automatic data from Icelandic Met Office. This earthquake was a more south the earthquakes that happened last weekend. This can clearly been seen on the map data that Icelandic Met Office has released (see above). The depth of this earthquake was 3.6 km.

Press disclaimer: I am not a geologist and my opinion is not the one of a expert in this matter.

News about the earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík volcano this morning. Use Google Translate carefully.

Enn skelfur jörð í Krýsuvík (Vísir.is)

Blog post updated at 20:25 CET on 02.03.2011. A new picture is added and information about the newest earthquake swarm is added.
Blog post updated at 20:36 CET on 02.03.2011.

Earthquake activity continues in Krýsuvík volcano, but at slower rate

At the current time earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano has slowed (when this is written) considerable down. But the earthquake activity has not stopped, even if it has slowed down considerable down. What is also interesting are the news about increased hydrothermal activity in Iceland (see older blog post for information on that). This lack of quiet time is interesting and gives the clues into that direction that inflow of magma might be constant. But might have slowed down as the earthquake swarm did slow down. It is interesting to notice that slowdown and few earthquakes where also common in the weeks before the eruption in Eyjafjallajökull volcano.

This activity in Krýsuvík volcano has gone out in the Icelandic media fast. But there have been the common questions if this area is about have a eruption. But at current time the general agreement is that nobody is sure about it.

Off-topic! I want to thank all the people how have supported me with donations. But I did not expect this huge response that I got. Thanks so much for the support. It won’t be forgotten in the future.

Having income problems, asking for donations with reluctance

As many of you know I have been running for a donations to buy a computer LCD screen. That did work out and I want to thank you all for that. But I want to use the money that was donated for what they are intended. So the donations for a new PC monitor go into that and into buying a table.

But this month after all the bills are paid I am left with nothing to buy food with. I got some money on my VISA card. But that is a bad path to go into. I already know that by experience.

As I find it honest to people how donate money to me. My income is as follows. This is converted from ISK to USD, EUR and DKK. This numbers are also public at tr.is web site, as I am on social benefits (fixed income).

All numbers are approximate and subject to exchange rate of ISK.
ISK: 139.000
USD: 1.197,45
DKK: 6.445,63
EUR: 864,64

I can provide a screen-shot of my bank-account numbers if asked for. Just email me if you require that. But as I sad. This numbers are public as this is the social welfare in Iceland.

In the absolute worst case I move back to Iceland for a few short years while the worst of the economic recession is over in Iceland and then I move to Germany. I will see how this develops over the course of March, April and May (maybe). I have a plan D and E that I am describing above.

I thank you for all your support. Both the one that has been given and the one that has yet to be given.

Hydrothermal areas grow larger in Krýsuvík volcano due to earthquake swarm

According to news from Rúv. It appears that hydrothermal areas in Krýsuvík volcano are growing larger following the earthquake swarm in the past few days. This same news also tells that the number of cracks in the ground have grown in numbers following the earthquake swarm, this allows more water to get into contact with the hot rock and that warms the water up fast.

Currently the earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík volcano is quieting down. But that might chance without any warning at all. But won’t be surprised if the earthquake swarm stops completely.

In my personal opinion this is a clue that magma might be pushing it’s way up the Krýsuvík volcano system. I get the clue from the increased hydrothermal activity in the this area. But at the moment it is too early to know for sure if this is going to result in a eruption or not. But if this activity continues as it has then a eruption is going to happen one day. That can also chance without any warning at all. But this type activity means that status of the volcano it self is constantly changing and makes it unpredictable. How eruptions in Krýsuvík volcano behave is also a big unknown.

Update: According to Rúv evening news (Icelandic, video) there appears to be magma related aspect to this weekend earthquake swarm in Krýsuvík volcano. According to Dr. Páll Einarsson geologist at Iceland University it appears that magma is the source (as stated above) of this weekend earthquake swarm. This news also says that there has been a lot of earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano over the past two years and this earthquake activity is not only tectonic as is common in this area. The news at Rúv also says that geologist in Iceland are wondering and unsure what exactly is going on at Krýsuvík volcano at the moment. But the reported inflation in the news at Rúv is sad to be 10 cm (I do not know if that number is accurate or not). But it clearly a reason now to watch the activity at Krýsuvík volcano. If there is a eruption in Krýsuvík volcano it is going to be a harmless (as it can be) lava eruption. Unless it is under water, but then there is a Surtsey type of eruption for as long there is water getting into the crater. So don’t expect aircraft problem if there is a eruption in Krýsuvík volcano.

Thanks to The other lurker for the news tip.

News about this. Use Google Translate at own risk.

Jarðhitasvæðið hefur stækkað (Rúv.is)

Blog post updated at 21:15 CET on 28.02.2011. News item about Krýsuvík volcano from Rúv added.

Overview of the earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano

Today has been interesting in regards to the earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano. But today there have been well over 800 earthquakes (far as I can tell). Over the past few hours the earthquake activity has slowed down a little bit. But far as I can tell it is far from over and might start to pick up again at any time and with no warning at all.

Icelandic Met Office released a picture of the earthquake activity in Krýsuvík volcano so far for the year 2011.


Black circles are earthquakes up to 26th of February. Red ones are earthquakes on the 27th February. Picture is from Icelandic Met Office web site and copyright of this picture belongs to them.

Here is a picture of the location of the earthquakes so far.


Picture is from Icelandic Met Office web site and copyright of this picture belongs to them.
Please note that this image does not have all the earthquakes that have been recorded in Krýsuvík volcano today.

More information about volcanoes in Reykjanes can be found here, in Icelandic.

Here is a picture, with fissure swarms and other things related to the four volcanoes that are on the Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland.


Picture is from here. Copyright of this picture belongs to however owns it. Please note that I use this picture in a educational purpose on this web site. If there are any issues with the use of this picture. Please email me here: jonfr@8930a1.talbot.shared.1984.is

I expect that this earthquake activity is going to continue in the coming hours. But it is impossible to know when it stops.

Click on the pictures to see higher resolution of them.

Blog post updated at 04:12 CET on 28.02.2011. Title of this blog post is fixed.
Blot post updated at 13:40 CET on 28.02.2011. Spelling error fixed.