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Donations needed for April

Please remember to support my work with donations. I spend a lot of time gathering information for articles that I write, even short articles about earthquake activity. I ask for donations in a special article now because the situation in terms of money for me is considerably worse than I had hoped for April. I am also trying to save up for the bills I have to pay in May. Since in Denmark many bills are only sent every 3rd month* and that has resulted in a minor issue for me as the amounts get really high. I’ve never been able to get ahead of that issue even if I tried to do so. It also complicates this issue is the extra tax I have to pay while I am living in Denmark. Since I need to pay this extra tax it means that I lack the money for saving up for the three months bills or at best can only save little money and use as little as I can to buy food. Since I’ve been doing that for several months now and it doesn’t get any easier. This problem is going to end when I move from Denmark by the end of May-2018. When I move to Iceland I don’t have to pay the extra tax in Denmark.

I am moving to Iceland from Denmark for a short time. The long term plan now is to move to Spain** after living some time in Iceland. Moving to Spain requires more work than I have current done so I’ll be living in Iceland during that time. I just I can find somewhere to live during that time, the housing crises in Iceland is awful at the moment and I don’t think it is going to improve in next few months. The reason for moving to Spain is the cost of living in Iceland and the housing crises. I can’t afford buying a apartment in Iceland because the price is high and getting higher. Getting something rented is also a big problem in this situation. What I am going to do in Iceland is simple, pay down all the debt I currently have and save up for a payment in a condo in Valencia, Valencia, Spain. I am going to be remote running my geophone network from Spain. It is going to be considerable easier once I start upgrading to Raspberry Shake sensors from my current hardware (that hardware is getting old and needs replacing).

I do more background work in connection with this website than many people realise. Sometimes I am looking at data or maps and sometimes I am trying to organise the earthquake collection I now have. I got a backlog to 2014 that I need to short out when I have the time (to weeks rather than months). Over the last 4 years I’ve recorded well over 7000 earthquakes due to heavy activity in Iceland.

The fault valley created by the rifting activity in 1875 that triggered a eruption in Askja volcano and Bárðarbunga volcano (Tröllagígar, south-west part of Bárðarbunga volcano system). The new rift cycle has started and now it started with an eruption in Bárðarbunga volcano. The rift valley on the map is going to get bigger in the future, but it is impossible to know when that might happen.

* This means the amounts I have to pay each time is higher than if it was a monthly payment. I prefer to have all bills monthly but that is not an option in Denmark for the internet bill and electricity bill. There is one bill that is every six months and I paid that one in March. This has been a big problem for me for a long time now.
** There no extra tax for me in Spain. Instead I pay all the tax in Spain from my welfare income in Iceland in accordance with Iceland – Spain tax treaty. The tax I have to pay in Spain is also lower than in Iceland as I understand it. But I have many things to figure out before I can move to Spain for good and a lot of money to save up before that happens.

Thanks for all the support. 🙂

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Monthly update on Öræfajökull volcano – March 2018

This is a short update on the activity in Öræfajökull volcano.

Over the past month the earthquake activity in Öræfajökull volcano has been mostly stable and majority of the earthquakes happening are small in magnitude and most in the range of 0,0 – 1,0. One magnitude 2,8 and magnitude 3,0 earthquake have happened in this time period (article here).


Earthquake activity yesterday in Öræfajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This earthquake activity is easily masked by strong winds and bad weather in the area. As summer approaches in Iceland risk of such storms is now smaller than during high winter. It is only when larger earthquakes start to appear that the risk of an eruption becomes serious. Until then this is just earthquake activity in Öræfajökull volcano that needs to be monitored.

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Earthquake activity east of Grímsey island yesterday

Yesterday (05-April-2018) two earthquakes happened east of Grímsey island. The first earthquake had a magnitude of 3,0 (18:12 UTC) and the second earthquake had a magnitude of 3,3 (18:14 UTC). There is a good chance both earthquakes where felt in Grímsey island even if it was not reported.


The earthquake activity east of Grímsey island. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Few smaller earthquakes followed the main earthquake events but since then everything has been quiet in this area.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. I am currently trying to save up for May bills (since in Denmark some bills come in 3 month cycle) so I can pay them without any issues. Along with just trying to survive. This is the last time I have to deal with this type of issue since I move back to Iceland in end of May. Thanks for the support. 🙂

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Earthquake swarm 43 km west of Grímsey island

Yesterday (31-March-2018) at 09:35 UTC a magnitude 3,2 earthquake happened 43 km west of Grímsey island. Due to distance from land this earthquake was not felt far as I know. Second largest earthquake had a magnitude of 2,6. All other earthquakes where smaller in magnitude.


The earthquake activity 43 km west of Grímsey island (green star). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

There is also a developing earthquake swarm just off the coast of Gjögurtá (red dots on the image above). So far it has not resulted in any strong earthquake and its unclear if that is going to happen.

I would have written this article sooner but I fell asleep.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. Thanks for the support. 🙂

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Minor earthquake activity on Tjörnes Fracture Zone

During the night a minor earthquake swarm took place on two parts of the Tjörnes Fracture Zone. The first earthquake swarm was just 19,9 km north-east of Siglufjörður village. Largest earthquake in that swarm had a magnitude of 3,1.


The earthquake activity in Tjörnes Fracture Zone. Largest earthquake is the green star. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

The second earthquake swarm was north-east of Grímsey Island and it was a minor swarm. Largest earthquake in that swarm had a magnitude of 2,8. Other earthquakes that happened were smaller in magnitude.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. Donations help me to keep writing. Thanks for the support. 🙂

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Magnitude 3,0 earthquake in Öræfajökull volcano

Today (24-March-2018) at 16:32 UTC a magnitude 3,0 earthquake happened in Öræfajökull volcano. There has been a lot of smaller earthquake activity in Öræfajökull volcano in recent days and the earthquake activity has been continuous for most of that time.


The earthquake activity in Öræfajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

I am unclear at the moment if there is any change happening at this moment. There has been slight increase in earthquakes that have magnitude larger than 1,5 in recent days. Overall there has been no major increase in earthquake activity so far in Öræfajökull volcano. But it has been mostly continuous for last several weeks and that might be a sign of trouble in near future.

The magnitude 3,0 earthquake was felt in Öræfasveit and other nearby areas.

I’ll update this article later if anything major happens.

Donations

Please remember to support my work. Thanks for the support. 🙂

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Magnitude 4,3 earthquake in Bárðarbunga volcano

Yesterday (21-March-2018) at 22:56 UTC a magnitude 4,3 earthquake took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. This earthquake is at the usual place inside the Bárðarbunga volcano caldera, but this location that had activity now is also the place that has high energy hydrothermal hot springs. This area of hydrothermal activity is high enough to melt trough the 100 meters of glacier at this location.


The earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano (green star). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Earthquake activity appears to be ongoing at the moment in Bárðarbunga volcano and nearby SIL station show that more smaller earthquakes are currently happening in Bárðarbunga volcano than are showing up on the map of Bárðarbunga volcano.

Donations

Please remember to support my work. My current situation doesn’t improve until I move back to Iceland and it won’t be fully good until I have finished paying everything I need to pay in Denmark after I move to Iceland (I will work in Iceland until end of October, that is going to help a lot with that issue). Thanks for the support. 🙂

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Quiet period in Iceland at the moment

At the moment there isn’t much happening. This is one of the quiet period that regularly happen in Iceland. How long this break is going to last is impossible to know. It might be few more days and maybe several more weeks.

Currently the only notable activity happening is in Öræfajökull volcano but this is the same type of activity that has been happening for weeks now and do not require a new article.

Donations

Please remember to support my work. At the moment I am completely broke and I don’t know how this last week of March is going to be. I have updated the information on how to donate on the Donation site. The updated information can be found here. Thanks for the support. 🙂

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Earthquake swarm in Askja volcano

Yesterday (14-March-2018) a earthquake swarm started in Askja volcano. The area the earthquake swarm is happening in has been having smaller earthquakes for several weeks already. Currently this earthquake activity is ongoing.


Earthquake activity in Askja volcano (green star). Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

This is the strongest earthquake in Askja volcano since August-2014 when a magnitude 4,5 earthquake happened in this area due to activity in Bárðarbunga volcano and the connected dyke intrusion. That also resulted in a deformation in Askja volcano that later did go back to normal. At the moment there is no harmonic tremor being detected and that means no magma movement and no eruption.

Donations

Please remember to support my work with donations. I am broke at the moment due to my financial problems that follow me while I am living in Denmark. Thanks for the support. 🙂
My move to Iceland by the end of May is going to change this to the better. Specially after I finish paying the debts I have in Denmark (that is going to take until November).

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Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano and south-east of Bárðarbunga volcano

Today (07-March-2018) there has been deep earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. This earthquake activity was in two areas. In the main volcano and south-east of it.


The earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano and south-east of Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

The earthquake swarm in the main volcano is normal and is connected to current inflation activity of Bárðarbunga volcano. Earthquake activity happens mostly when magma is pushing the crust upwards when it flows into the volcano from depth. The earthquake swarm to the south-east of Bárðarbunga volcano is more interesting. That is a dyke and it has been in this area for numbers of years already. At the moment this dyke remains at depth of 15 – 23 km but this increase in activity might be increasing the risk of eruption if it does not quiet down. The increased magma activity in Bárðarbunga volcano has increased the earthquake activity in this dyke over the last few months.

There is a high risk of strong earthquakes in Bárðarbunga volcano in the next few days to weeks.

What also happened in this earthquake swarm was a high intensity tremor on the mid-band (1-2Hz) during the earthquake swarm. This is highly unusual. What it means is less clear.


The tremor activity (close to the end) on a SIL station close to Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Donations

Thanks to donations I was able to buy the moving boxes I need to pack my stuff into before I move back to Iceland. But I always welcome donations since they help me writing articles and in general making this work in Denmark while I am living in Denmark. Thanks for the support. 🙂