Category: Magma

Posted on

Update at 21:27 UTC on earthquake activity in Katla volcano

This is a short update on what is now taking place in Katla volcano. This information might go outdated quickly after it is being written.

Currently the earthquake activity in Katla volcano is increasing. However there are no signs of imminent eruption as is. However that might change without notice under my current estimate. It is impossible to know if this activity in Katla volcano is going to continue to increase or slow down again. It is my estimate that activity in Katla volcano is going to continue to increase (based on past experience) before it quiets down again. That might not result in a eruption, since this type of activity does not mean that an eruption is going to take place. This activity in Katla volcano has increased that risk at current time and until this earthquake activity stops or gets to lower levels, that risk is going to remain higher then normal. As things stand now there are no signs of that an eruption is going to take place in Katla volcano.

140707_2017
The earthquake activity in Katla volcano during the past 48 hours. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

During the minor eruption in Katla volcano in July-2011 (I wrote about it here and here) a minor earthquake swarm like this was also detected in Katla volcano. Back then as now it did start about one month earlier before the minor eruption took place. That activity took place in different part of the caldera then the activity that is now taking place. Today the activity in Katla volcano is the area that might have erupted during the 1918 eruption in Katla volcano (I think).

140706.234343.hkbz.psn
The magnitude 3,0 earthquake in Katla volcano yesterday. This image is under Creative Commons licence. Please see CC Licence page for more details.

This earthquake clearly shows the sign of magma under pressure creating a earthquake. This is a possibly a tornillo event. Since it is a low frequency, monochromatic and with long tale in it’s end. I don’t know what is going to happen next in Katla volcano, if anything happens at all other then just this earthquake activity. More water has been reported in Múlakvísl along with higher conductivity taking place, that however might just be rain water in the area since it has been experiencing heavy rain for the past few days. I am going to continue to watch the activity in Katla volcano.

Donations: Please remember to donate to support my work. Thanks for the support.

Posted on

Ongoing earthquake activity in Katla volcano

There is currently an ongoing earthquake activity in Katla volcano. So far this earthquake activity has been small in terms of magnitude, with the largest earthquake only having the magnitude of 2,7.

140703_2050
The earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

140703_2155
Updated image of the activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

The earthquakes that I have recorded so far are low period earthquake. Suggesting that they are being created due to magma or hydrothermal change inside the volcano. So far nothing suggests that an eruption is imminent. But I find this activity in Katla volcano suspicious and something that needs to watch, since I think this might be a risky situation and it might change on short notice.

Hekla volcano

A magnitude 2,3 earthquake with the depth of 9,9 km took place in Hekla volcano system on 02-July-2014 at 23:48:57 UTC. No other activity took place following this earthquake. It is not clear why this earthquake activity is taking place in Hekla volcano.

Donations: Please remember to support my work by donations or by shopping on Amazon via the banners that I have here. I get 5% to 10% of each sale made on Amazon if it is trough my banners (what you buy does not matter). Thanks for the support.

Article updated at 22:05 UTC.

Posted on

Earthquake in Hekla volcano, continued activity in Katla volcano

Today (30-June-2014) at 03:52 UTC a magnitude 1,0 earthquake took place in Hekla volcano. This earthquake had the depth of 0,1 km and that means it a an surface earthquake due to crust movement. No other activity has been detected in Hekla volcano following this earthquake.

140630_1835
Earthquake activity in Hekla volcano and Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Earthquake activity has continued in Katla volcano (see picture above). The main area of activity is close to an place in Mýrdalsjökull (Katla) that is called Hábunga. The largest earthquake in the past 24 hours is a magnitude 1,6 and it has the depth of 0,2 km. Deeper earthquake continue to happen, the deepest earthquake in the past 24 hours has the depth of 20,6 km. Shallower earthquakes have also taken place in the same area. So far nothing suggest that eruption is going to happen any time soon in Katla volcano. It is however important to monitor this activity in Katla volcano since it might be leading up to something, this activity also might not lead to nothing at all. There is no way to know currently what is going to happen in Katla volcano.

Donations: Please remember to donate to support my work. Donations help me to keep working on this website and keep monitoring earthquake activity in Iceland. Thanks for the support.

Posted on

Deep earthquakes in Katla volcano

Today (27-June-2014) deep earthquakes where recorded in Katla volcano, the earthquakes had the magnitude of 0,8 and up to 1,5 with the depth from 23,7 km and down to 25,7 km.

140627_1735
The earthquakes in Katla volcano. The deep earthquakes are the ones the have the colour orange and inside Katla volcano caldera. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Earthquakes that are taking place at this depth happen due to magma movement and possibly dike intrusion of magma at depth. This does not mean that Katla volcano is about to erupt, it however clearly shows that something is happening inside Katla volcano system. Far as I know no surface changes have been spotted due to this activity, it remains unclear of that is going to change since what happens before a large eruption in Katla volcano is currently not well known or understood.

Donations: Please remember to donate to support my work. Currently I am broke and that is no fun at all and I might be broke all of July due to my low income and a lot of bills that I have to pay in July. Thanks for the support.

Advertisements: I now just use Amazon Advertisements. They work in such that I get 5 to 10% of the price of each item bought (not by click). I can also get more for promotions and such things. That is also one way to support my work. Thanks for the support.

Post updated at 19:12 UTC.

Posted on

Magnitude 3,2 earthquake in Katla volcano

Today (18-June-2014) at 10:20 UTC a magnitude 3,2 earthquake took place in Katla volcano caldera. A swarm of smaller earthquakes did happen after the main event. Depth of the main earthquake was 2,5 km.

140618_1210
The magnitude 3,1 earthquake in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Following this earthquake few minor earthquakes appeared. None of them had a magnitude above 1,0. So far things remain quiet in Katla volcano and it is difficult to know for sure if this is something more than just summer earthquake activity in Katla volcano. I am at least going to keep an eye out for activity in Katla volcano.

140618.102000.hkbz.psn
The magnitude 3,1 earthquake as it did appear on my geophone in Heklubyggð. This image is under Creative Commons Licence. Please see CC Licence page for more details.

Donations: Please remember to donate. Donations help me keep working and writing about earthquake activity in Iceland and Europe. Thanks for the support.

Post updated at 14:45 UTC.

Posted on

Deep earthquake swarm in Katla volcano

Yesterday (6-June-2014) there was an earthquake swarm of small earthquakes in Katla volcano. The depth of this earthquakes was from 24 to 28 km. None of this earthquakes had the magnitude above 2,0 and the strongest earthquake only had the magnitude of 1,5 in the caldera rim.

140606_1945
The earthquake activity in Katla volcano caldera. The earthquake swarm took place under the rim of the caldera. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Today (7-June-2014) other anomaly activity has been showing up. Few earthquakes have been showing up 10 km north-east of the Vík í Mýrdal village. All of the earthquakes in question are small. There depth is from 18,4 and down to 29,2 km. The activity is inside the Katla volcano system it self, as it stretches out to this area. But this activity is taking place on the rim of the Katla volcano system as it is known today.

140607_1420
The earthquake activity 10 km north-east of Vík í Mýrdal village. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Earthquake activity at this depth is not because of stress changes in the crust. This earthquake activity is most likely due to some changes in the magma inside Katla volcano. It probably does not mean anything in terms of risk of eruption at the moment, at least not while the activity remains on the low levels as it currently is. Given the experience from the minor eruption in July-2011, earthquake activity in Katla volcano needs to be considerably higher then it currently is. It is impossible to know if this deep earthquake activity signals any change in Katla volcano activity for coming months, it’s all just wait and see, same as before.

Donations notice: Please remember to donate to support my work here. If you buy from from Amazon (select your correct country), I get paid 5 to 10% of the price the item bought as sale income (advertisement revenue). Thanks for the support.

Posted on

Earthquake activity in Þórðarhyrna, Bárðarbunga and Kverkfjöll volcanoes

Today (03-June-2014) there was a lot of minor earthquake activity in several volcanoes in Vatnajökull glacier. This is normal earthquake activity and so far nothing to worry about. This appears to be normal micro-earthquake activity in this volcanoes and I don’t see anything suggesting that volcano eruption is going to happen soon.

140603_1615
Earthquake activity today in volcanoes in Vatnajökull glacier. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Þórðarhyrna volcano

Þórðarhyrna volcano (No GVP link. It is under Grímsfjall volcano GVP information) has been having interesting activity for the past few days. It might have been ongoing longer without being noticed until now. This earthquake activity is interesting since there is normally no earthquake activity in this volcano. Last eruption in Þórðarhyrna volcano took place in the year 1902. Activity in Þórðarhyrna volcano is often connected to eruptions in Grímsfjall volcano.

Bárðarbunga volcano

Some minor earthquake activity has been taking place in the area around dike intrusion location in Bárðarbunga volcano. This is just a minor activity and nothing to worry about.

Kverkfjöll volcano

Some minor earthquake activity is taking place in Kverkfjöll volcano. This earthquake activity is just minor. It is unusual to have earthquake activity in Kverkfjöll volcano. This earthquake activity is clearly a signal of increase of activity in Kverkfjöll volcano, it however does not signal that an eruption is imminent in Kverkfjöll volcano. So far everything remains quiet and might be so for a good while longer. Last eruption in Kverkfjöll volcano was in the year 1968.

Donations: Please remember to support my work with donations. If you buy from Amazon (please choose your correct Amazon site before you shop) I get 5 to 10% of the sale as income of every item sold. Thanks for the support.

Posted on

New earthquake swarm in Bárðarbunga volcano

On 20-May-2014 an earthquake swarm started in Bárðarbunga volcano or a continuum of an earthquake swarm that started on 16-May-2014 as I wrote about here. This earthquake swarm was rather small, with the largest earthquake only having the magnitude of 2,8 according to reviewed results from Icelandic Meteorological Office.

140521_2220
The earthquake swarm in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

This earthquake swarm activity seems to be due to minor dike intrusion into Bárðarbunga volcano at this location. It does not mean an eruption is about to take place. More earthquake activity might take place this location in next days to weeks.

Posted on

Magnitude 3,7 earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano

Today (16-May-2014) a magnitude 3,7 earthquake took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. The source of this earthquake is not clear, but this appears to be a magma injection into Bárðarbunga volcano. Such events do happen in Bárðarbunga volcano without starting an eruption.

140516_2125
The magnitude 3,7 earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano. The earthquake took place where the green star is. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

140516.144100.hkbz.psn
The Bárðarbunga volcano earthquake as it appeared at my geophone station in Heklubyggð. This image is released under Creative Commons Licence. Please see CC Licence for more details.

There was around 20 aftershocks following this earthquake. Largest automatic magnitude was 2,6, but strongest reviewed earthquake activity so far had the magnitude of 2,5. More earthquake activity is most likely going to continue in this area. Earthquakes with this or stronger magnitude cannot be ruled out from happening. There is currently nothing suggesting that this is other then just normal earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano.

Donations: Please remember to support my work with donations or by buying via the Amazon links that I have here. With Amazon I get 5 to 10% of each sold item that is bought via my website. Thanks for the support.

Posted on

Minor earthquake swarm in Kverkfjöll volcano

Today (14-May-2014) a minor earthquake swarm took place in Kverkfjöll volcano. Earthquake activity is not common in Kverkfjöll volcano, but it does happen once in a while. This does not mean the volcano is about to erupt, this was just an earthquake swarm taking place. No earthquake reached the magnitude 2,0 in this earthquake swarm.

140514_1935
The earthquake swarm in Kverkfjöll volcano (red dots at north-east part of Vatnajökull glacier). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

There are no clues to why this earthquake swarm took place. This might have been a magma injection in the volcano, or this might just have been a change in the highly active hydrothermal areas in the volcano. There was no change at all in harmonic tremors in the volcano during this earthquake swarm. Kverkfjöll web-camera can be found here, it has however not updated since 1-May-2014. I am not sure if this means anything for Kverkfjöll volcano, as such I am just waiting too see what happens next in Kverkfjöll volcano.

Donations: Please remember to donate to support my work. I have less then 3,30€ (25 DKK) to of survive the remaining of this month. Thanks for the support.