Month: March 2021

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Inflation continues in Fagradalsfjall mountain, eruption expected close to or in Nátthagi valley

This is a short article because the situation is always changing. This article is written on 15-March-2021 at 21:23 UTC. This article is about Fagradalsfjall volcano but Icelandic Met Office updates go to Krýsuvík volcano so I link to that volcano also.

Between Friday and Monday the activity in Fagradalsfjall volcano was really strong. Several earthquakes with magnitude above Mw4,0 took place and the second largest earthquake took place on Sunday 14-March at 14:15 UTC with the magnitude of Mw5,4. Earlier that day at 12:34 UTC an magnitude Mw5,2 earthquake had taken place. According to the news (Icelandic) over 50.000 earthquakes have taken place since 24-February-2021 when this earthquake activity started (20 days ago). Of those six have been larger than magnitude 5, earthquakes with magnitude between 4 to 5 have been 53 and total of 524 earthquakes with magnitude between 3 to 4. Inflation is now reported to be 20 cm or 10 cm on both sides of the dyke. Eruption is expected to happen close to or in Nátthagi valley soon. When that happens is impossible to know but the magma inflow into the dyke doesn’t show any signs of slowing down or stopping.

A lot of red dots on Reykjanes peninsula showing the earthquake activity in Fagradalsfjall mountain area where the eruption is going to happen. Few green stars showing the largest earthquakes on the map.
Earthquake activity in Fagradalsfjall mountain and nearby area. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It has also been reported that the magma dyke managed to push it self a little more south in the line it had been then compared to Friday according to newest data that scientists have access to. Today (15-March-2021) earthquake activity has been small and slow but after 16:30 UTC it started to increase again but at the writing of this article no major earthquake has happened. It has mostly been small earthquakes taking place.

If anything major happens I’ll post update soon as possible.

Web cameras

Beint vefstreymi af skjálftasvæðinu – Borgarfjall (Rúv.is) Nátthagi valley web camera
Beint vefstreymi af skjálftasvæðinu – Efstaleiti
Road camera 1
Road camera 2 (night vision/infrared)

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. Everything continues to be locked down with Google Adsense and I don’t know when that is resolved or if that gets resolved at all. Thanks to everyone that has supported me already. Thanks for the support. 🙂

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Magma dyke seems to have stopped close to Nátthagi valley south of Fagradalsfjall mountain

This article is short because the situation is always changing. This is about the volcano Fagradalsfjall but I have also added Krýsuvík because that volcano is being updated at Global Volcanism Program website. I am not sure currently what volcano is considered active in this make injection. This article is written at 20:39 UTC.

Today (12-March-2021) at 07:43 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw5,0 at 3,7 km depth took place close to Nátthagi valley just south of Fagradalsfjall mountain. Over the last 48 hours 72 earthquakes with magnitude above Mw3,0 have taken place. This earthquake activity is happening at the south end of the magma dyke that has now stopped moving south but continues to expand based on the earthquake activity that is now happening. This is also the location where an eruption might happen without any warning or strong earthquake activity. Eruption out on the ocean is no longer considered a possibility because the magma dyke stopped moving south.

Dense earthquake activity on Reykjanes peninsula in the Fagradalsfjall or Krýsuvík volcanoes. A lot of green stars on the map
The dense earthquake activity in Fagradalsfjall or Krýsuvík volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

GPS data shows that inflation remains heavy and has moved some GPS stations up to 120mm over a time period of two weeks. There are no signs of this inflation stopping or slowing down.

Web cameras

Beint vefstreymi af skjálftasvæðinu – Borgarfjall (Rúv.is) If an eruption happens. This camera maybe has the best view
Beint vefstreymi af skjálftasvæðinu – Efstaleiti
Live from Iceland
Road camera 1
Road camera 2 (night vision/infrared)

Next article is going to be on Monday 15-March-2021 if an eruption doesn’t happen or something else major doesn’t happen. I am hoping to get weekend break this weekend. If that is going to be successful is currently unclear.

Donations

People remember to donate to support my work if you can. Thanks to everyone that have donated already. It helps me a lot. Thanks for the support.

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Strong earthquakes west of Grindavík village and update on magma dyke movements

This is a short article about the activity in Fagradalsfjall volcano. This article is written on 11-March-2021 at 17:34 UTC.

This morning at 08:53 UTC an earthquake with magnitude of Mw4,5 took place west of Grindavík town. Second earthquake with magnitude of Mw3,2 took place at 09:03 UTC. This earthquakes are not connected to any magma movement in this location. The reason for this earthquake activity is because of the inflation from the Fagradalsfjall volcano dyke. According to new measurements the dyke in Fagradalsfjall volcano is moving around 500 meters every 24 hours. Currently the dyke has moved more south but it was moving south-west yesterday and the days before that. Today (11-March-2021) the dyke has only 2 to 3 km left until it goes under the ocean and a road called Suðurstrandarvegur (road 427). If the magma reaches the ocean and an eruption starts, it is going to be an explosive eruption while the ocean can access the main craters that are erupting. Depending on locations this can go on for weeks and is going to form new islands that might only exist for short time period until the ocean erodes them away.

Dense earthquake activity on Reykjanes peninsula in the volcano Fagradalsfjall. Three green stars west of Grindavík town and a lot of red dots showing new earthquake activity.
Earthquake activity in Fagradalsfjall volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

If an eruption happens before the magma dyke reaches the ocean the magma only has 2 to 3 km left until it reaches the ocean and it is now expected if that happens that the lava is going to reach the ocean in 6 to 10 hours and go over Suðurstandarvegur (road 427). Since 24-February-2021 over 34.000 earthquakes have been recorded by Icelandic Met Office in this volcano activity.

Web cameras

Beint vefstreymi af skjálftasvæðinu – Borgarfjall (Rúv.is) New!
Beint vefstreymi af skjálftasvæðinu – Efstaleiti (Rúv.is)
Road camera 1
Road camera 2 (night vision/infrared)
Live from Iceland

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Update on Fagradalsfjall volcano activity on 10-March-2021

This is a short update on the activity in Fagradalsfjall volcano. This article is written at 21:08 UTC.

Since Monday 8-March-2021 there has been a lot going on and there are no signs of this activity slowing down. Currently it seems that the volcano dyke is expanding to the south and that is more into Fagradalsfjall mountain that is a earlier eruption structure from maybe few million years ago. This expansion of the magma dyke is resulting in strong earthquake activity and during the night the strongest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw5,1 at 03:15 UTC. Second largest earthquake had a magnitude of Mw4,6 at 08:50 UTC. Over the last 48 hours 68 earthquakes with magnitude above Mw3,0 have taken place. Smaller earthquakes are happening with the rate of 1 to 5 or more earthquakes at every minute. Since 24-February-2021 over 34.000 earthquakes have been recorded by Icelandic Met Office.

Dense earthquake activity on Reykjanes peninsula. Dense location of green stars that shows the location of the main active area. A lot of red dots showing smaller earthquakes
Earthquake activity on the Reykjanes peninsula. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

The chance of an eruption are increasing according to Icelandic Met Office in the news this evening. While the magma dyke has space to expand it is going to do so. The magma in the dyke is now at the shallowest only at 1 km depth or less. Exact depth has been problematic to get information about. Eruption can happen without much earthquake activity because how shallow the magma is to the top of the crust. There remains a high risk of an earthquake with magnitude Mw6,0 to Mw6,5. Both in the fracture areas on both ends of the dyke and in Brenninsteinsfjöll volcano.

Next update is going to be on Friday (12-March-2021) unless something major might happen.

Donations

Please donate if you can. Everything is still locked down with Google Adsense that doesn’t seems to have liked the traffic increase my website got when the Fagradalsfjall volcano started going active on 24-February-2021. There is nothing I can do about it since there are exactly zero person to contact with Google Adsense and I just have to hope this is somehow resolved if that is what happens (it might not because Google placed their eggs in the automation basket and that’s not a good thing). Thanks for the support. 🙂

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Harmonic tremor pulse during the night until morning in Fagradalsfjall volcano (9-March-2021)

This is a short article on the activity in Fagradalsfjall volcano. This situation is developing quickly and it is impossible to know what happens next.

During the night of 9-March-2021 from 05:20 UTC until around 07:00 UTC an harmonic tremor pulse was detected by Icelandic Met Office. This shows that the magma is still expanding into the Earth crust below Fagradalsfjall mountain and according to Icelandic Met Office it looks like the dyke is expanding in south direction but it is going to take a day or two to confirm that with GPS data.

Earthquake activity in the volcano Fagradalsfjall. Dots on a generated map my a program called Skjálfta-Lísa shows the most recent earthquake activity from midnight until 16:18
Earthquake activity in Fagradalsfjall volcano. This shows the possible location of the south end of the magma dyke. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There have been fewer stronger earthquakes in last few days. While the there are fewer strong earthquakes the amount of earthquakes has not really dropped in any number, most earthquakes are small in magnitude and only few reach magnitude above Mw3,0. This quiet period is not expected to last for any amount of time while magma continues to be injected into the crust of Fagradalsfjall volcano. There continues to be a high risk for earthquake with magnitude Mw6,0 to Mw6,5 along with risk of Mw6,5 earthquake in Brennisteinsfjöll volcano. Currently no magma movement is being detected in Reykjanes volcano, Krýsuvík volcano or Brennisteinsfjöll volcano.

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New information about the situation in Fagradalsfjall volcano

This is a short article about the new information published today (8-March-2021) by Icelandic Met Office and Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management.

New measurements of the situation in Fagradalsfjall volcano show that the dyke intrusion continues to grow and as at its shallowest point at 1 km depth. Possible eruption is expected at the south end of the dyke intrusion (closest to Fagradalsfjall mountain). Earthquakes are going to happen at the south-west end of the dyke and north-east of the dyke because of the inflation the magma is creating in the area.

The dyke shown with dotted line and circle shows the most effective area. Gray areas at both ends shows earthquake effected area
The earthquake areas at the ends of the dyke intrusion, shown in gray areas on this map. The dyke is shown within the line with dot lines. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There are going to be quiet times between high period of activity according to the news about this activity. There is also ongoing risk of a earthquake with magnitude of Mw6,5 in Brennisteinsfjöll volcano and according to Icelandic Met Office that risk has not been reduced in recent days. Outside of the Fagradalsfjall volcano magma dyke, no magma movement has been detected in Reykjanes (Svartsengi?) volcano and in Krýsuvík volcano.

Sources (Icelandic)

Áfram má búast við að virknin á Reykjanesskaga verði kaflaskipt (Iceland, English, Polish, Almannavarnir.is)
Kvikan er á kílómetra dýpi (Rúv.is, Icelandic)

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Strong earthquake activity in Fagradalsfjall volcano

This article is short because the situation is always changing. Article is written at 07-March-2021 at 23:10 UTC.

At 00:22 UTC and until around 00:42 UTC an harmonic tremor was detected in Fagradalsfjall volcano. While this harmonic tremor only lasted for 20 minutes it started an earthquake swarm around 01:00 UTC that lasted until around 04:00 and the largest earthquake in that swarm had a magnitude of Mw5,0 to Mw5,2 (USGS/EMSC) at 02:01 UTC. Every day from 2500 to 3000 or more earthquakes are being recorded. Since 24-February-2021 over 24000 earthquakes have been recorded in this earthquake swarm. There is a massive inflation happening from Fagradalsfjall volcano and that is what is causing the earthquakes west and east of the dyke location between Fagradalsfjall mountain and Keilir mountain. Resulting in large earthquakes like the Mw5,0. Many of the earthquakes are happening close to the town of Grindavík and people there can’t sleep due to earthquake activity and the ongoing earthquake activity that is now happening at every minute.

Heavy earthquake activity on Reykjanes peninsula. Total of 68 green stars on the map and over 2600 other earthquakes of smaller magnitude are shown on the map at different age
Heavy earthquake activity in Fagradalsfjall volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is now possible to check the inflation by viewing this GPS data website. Another website with GPS data can be found here and its is called Crustal Deformation.

More strong earthquakes are expected. If anything major happens I’ll post update soon as possible.

Web cameras directly streaming

Beint vefstreymi af skjálftasvæðinu – Efstaleiti
Beint vefstreymi af skjálftasvæðinu – Vogastapi (Rúv.is)
Keilir í beinni (mbl.is)
Óróasvæðið í beinni útsendingu (Vísir.is)
Live from Iceland
Keilir og skjálftasvæðið (YouTube)
Road camera 1
Road camera 2 (night vision/infrared)


Update 8-March-2021

A news article has been published showing the road damage from the recent earthquake activity. This is close to the HS Orka energy plant on Reykjanes peninsula.

Mal­bik sprungið við HS Orku í Grinda­vík (mbl.is, Icelandic, Pictures)

Article updated at 01:31 UTC.
Article updated at 04:36 UTC. Fixed web camera link that was broken (YouTube)
Article updated at 16:58 UTC on 8-March-2021. Fixed Rúv web camera link.

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Update on Fagradalsfjall volcano activity on 7-March-2021 at 00:21 UTC

This is a short update on activity in Fagradalsfjall volcano. This is mostly on the activity on 6-March-2021.

Overview of current activity

  • Earthquake activity is mostly limited to small earthquakes.
  • Risk of eruption has not been reduced with current change in activity.
  • The magma dyke is at the shallowest on 2 km but it has an average depth of 5 km to 8 km depth.
  • Most of earthquake activity is closest to Fagradalsfjall mountain (north end?). The dyke is situated between Fagradalsfjall mountain and Keilir mountain.
  • Fagradalsfjall volcano has not erupted in last 12000 years.
  • There has not been any magma activity observed in Krýsuvík volcano and Reykjanes volcano (Svartsengi volcano?). All earthquake activity in those volcanoes are due to crust stress changes due to inflation from Fagradalsfjall volcano.

 

Dotted line showing the Fagradalsfjall volcano
The area of activity according to Icelandic Met Office. This might also be the Fagradalsfjall volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There remains a high risk of a strong earthquake with magnitude between Mw6,0 to Mw6,5 because of crustal stress changes that are connected to all the inflation that is now taking place in Fagradalsfjall volcano.

Dense earthquake activity in Fagradalsfjall volcano with many green stars showing earthquakes with magnitudes above Mw3,0 and many new red dots showing new smaller earthquakes
Dense earthquake activity in Fagradalsfjall volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Harmonic tremor has not been detected again since Wednesday but that might change without warning.

Current web cameras of Keilir mountain and possible eruption area

Beint vefstreymi af skjálftasvæðinu – Efstaleiti (Rúv.is)
Beint vefstreymi af skjálftasvæðinu – Vogastapi (Rúv.is)
Keilir í beinni (mbl.is)
Óróasvæðið í beinni útsendingu (Vísir.is)
Live from Iceland
Keilir og skjálftasvæðið (YouTube)
Road camera 1
Road camera 2 (night vision/infrared)

If anything major happens I’ll write a new article soon as I possibly can do so.

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Update on activity in Fagradalsfjall and Reykjanes volcanoes

This is a short update on what is going on in Reykjanes peninsula. This article is written at 16:29 UTC.

Volcanoes in this article

Fagradalsfjall
Reykjanes
Krýsuvík

  • Fagradalsfjall volcano has not erupted since Pleistocene. When last eruption took place is not listed or not known. This the first magma movement in Fagradalsfjall volcano in 11700 years.
  • Eruption risk is now in Reykjanes volcano*.
  • *This might also be a different volcano known as Svartsengi (no Global Volcanism Profile). There is no agreements between maps on this detail for now. Reykjanes volcano might only extend into Reykjanestá and then is mostly under ocean and might not extend into Reykjanes peninsula as sometimes is shown on maps.
  • Krýsuvík volcano has quieted down a little in the last 24 hours. Eruption risk is lower for now in that volcano.
  • Largest number of earthquakes detected in one day was over 3000 earthquakes.
  • In the last 24 hours 12 earthquakes with magnitude above Mw3,0 have happened. Most of them are felt in nearby populated areas.
  • No harmonic tremor has been detected since it ended during the night on 4-March-2021.
  • During the last 48 hours over 3300 earthquakes have been recorded by Icelandic Met Office.
  • New! Magma is now estimated to be at 5 to 6 km depth but might be as shallow as 2 km depth.

 

Dense earthquake activity in the volcanoes Reykjanes, Fagradalsfjall and Krýsuvík volcanoes
Heavy earthquake activity on Reykjanes peninsula in three volcanoes. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Maps of possible eruption areas has been made by Earth science department of University of Iceland and can be found here. University of Iceland Earth science department also made a lava flow prediction can that map can be found here. Both maps are updated daily on Facebook.

Web cameras

Beint vefstreymi af skjálftasvæðinu – Vogastapi (Rúv.is)
Keilir í beinni (mbl.is)
Óróasvæðið í beinni útsendingu (Vísir.is)
Live from Iceland
Keilir og skjálftasvæðið (YouTube)

Added at 21:12 UTC

Road camera 1
Road camera 2 (night vision/infrared)

Cameras and links might go offline without warning.

Donations

It is possible to support my work with donations. It helps me in current financial situation that has remained rather bad. You should only donate if you can. Other ways to support my website is to let people know about it if they are interested in earthquakes, volcanoes and geology in Iceland. Thanks for the support. 🙂

Article updated at 16:53 UTC.
Article updated at 21:13 UTC.

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Update on activity in Fagradalsfjall, Krýsuvík, Reykjanes volcanoes

The situation on Reykjanes peninsula is getting complicated due to activity between three volcanoes. This article is written at 15:22 UTC.

The volcanoes that are now showing activity on Reykjanes peninsula

Reykjanes volcano
Krýsuvík volcano
Fagradalsfjall volcano (added from 04-March-2021)

Fagradalsfjall volcano has no document eruption history over the last 10.000 years and the main volcano location is unknown if it exists.

Updates from the last few hours

  • Small rift valley has started to form between Keili mountain and Fagradalsfjall mountain. This is part of the rift zone that is Reykjanes peninsula.
  • Harmonic tremor stopped this morning and as Icelandic Met Office has been telling the news the origins of this harmonic tremor was earthquake activity that was so dense it created this harmonic activity. In the morning the activity dropped a little.
  • Magma continues to move in the Fagradalsfjall volcano system.
  • Earthquake activity is now between the volcanoes Reykjanes, Fagradalsfjalls and Krýsuvík. Why that is unclear but magma movement for now is only in Fagrdalsfjall volcano system.
  • Largest earthquake in last 24 hours had a magnitude of Mw4,5. Over the last 48 hours total of 72 earthquakes with magnitude over Mw3,0 have taken place. There is no sign of activity slowing down.

 

Dense earthquake activity in Reykjanes volcano, Fagradalsfjall volcano and Krýsuvík volcano. A lot of red dots showing new earthquakes and green stars showing earthquakes with magnitude above Mw3,0 on Reykjanes peninsula
Heavy earthquake activity on Reykjanes peninsula in several volcanoes. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

It is currently impossible to know for sure what happens next since this situation is extremely complicated because of all the volcanoes interactions and earthquake activity.

Live internet broadcasts of Keilir

Beint vefstreymi af skjálftasvæðinu – Efstaleiti (Rúv.is)
Keil­ir í beinni (mbl.is)
Keilir og skjálftasvæðið (YouTube)

If anything major happens I am going to post update soon as possible.

Article updated at 15:38 UTC.