Interesting earthquake activity in Hamarinn volcano

Over the past few days interesting earthquake activity has been taking place in Hamarinn volcano. The earthquakes have been aligning along two east-west lines. Possibly an fissure in the volcano. I am not sure why this is happening, but I did record one earthquake from Hamarinn volcano today (07-September-2013) and that trace suggests this earthquakes have there origin in magma movements in the Hamarinn volcano. That has not yet been confirmed and this might never be confirmed due to lack of data. Largest earthquake so far had the magnitude of 2.2 at the depth of 4.5 km.

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Hamarinn volcano earthquake activity. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Last eruption in Hamarinn volcano was on 11 – 12-July-2011. It was an minor eruption and I did cover it here and here. Small eruptions are common in Icelandic volcanoes just as the are in other volcanoes around the world. Before the minor eruption in the year 2011 there was several months of earthquake activity in Hamarinn volcano. The area that now has this earthquake activity is the same area that had this minor eruption in the year 2011. I do not know if current activity is an early indicator that it is going to happen again. It however cannot be ruled out currently. What can be done is to monitor current levels of activity and just wait and see what happens next.

Minor earthquake swarm in Esjufjöll volcano

Today (05-September-2013) an minor earthquake swarm took place in Esjufjöll volcano. Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 2.2 and the depth of 4.9 km.

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Earthquake swarm in Esjufjöll volcano. Esjufjöll volcano are located in south part of Vatnajökull glacier, just northeast of Öræfajökull volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Earthquakes in this area are because of magma movement it is believed. Now there are more SIL stations in the area, so more earthquakes are being recorded. Few years ago the lowest magnitude that Icelandic Meteorological Office was able to detect in Esjufjöll volcano was magnitude 1.5 and above.

Earthquake activity in several volcanoes

Today (04-September-2013) had some minor earthquake activity in several volcanoes in Vatnajökull glacier. All of this earthquakes were small and less than magnitude 3.0 in size.

Kverkfjöll volcano

The deepest earthquake activity was in Kverkfjöll, with earthquakes at 31 km depth and 24 km depth. This deep earthquake activity is possible connected to magma movements since tectonic earthquakes are unlikely to take place this deep in the crust.

Grímsfjall volcano

One earthquake was recorded in Grímsfjall volcano, it was minor and shallow. This might even just be a glacier quake, rather than normal earthquake.

Öræfajökull volcano

Öræfajökull volcano did see two earthquake today, at the depth of 4 to 5 km. Both were small and tectonic in nature from the looks of it. Earthquakes are not common in Öræfajökull volcano so I am not sure why this increase has now taken place. It is worth noticing that sil network is now more sensitive in this area than before since new stations have been added in this area. This means that smaller earthquakes are now being detected than before.

Esjufjöll volcano

Esjufjöll volcano had two earthquake, the third earthquake might be a ice-quake. I am not sure if it was an real earthquake or not. Esjufjöll volcano normally do not have any earthquake activity, but few years ago an earthquake activity started with earthquakes that had magnitude of 2.5 to 3.0 so there is something going on in this volcano. What that might be I am not sure of yet.

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Earthquake activity in Kverkfjöll, Öræfajökull, Esjufjöll, Grímsfjall volcanoes. All small earthquakes. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

I do not expect anything major to take place in Vatnajökull volcano. Since the current quiet period in Iceland just seems to be ongoing as is.

Minor dike intrusion into Bárðarbunga – Hamarinn volcanoes

It seems that yesterday (02-September-2013) a minor dike intrusion took place in Bárðarbunga – Hamarinn volcanoes. This created an minor harmonic tremor yesterday on nearby sil stations. There were earthquakes following this events, the strongest one had the magnitude of 2.8 at the depth of 14 km. A second earthquake with the magnitude of 2.1 took place few moments later, it had the depth of 15.5 km. Only one smaller earthquake have seen taken place in this area of Bárðarbunga – Hamarinn volcanoes.

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The earthquake activity in Báðarbunga – Hamarinn volcano area. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

It is important to notice that dike intrusions are common in this area, often happen many times a year. How many takes place can vary between years. That dike intrusion took place does not mean an eruption is going to take place. It just means that magma moved, what that means for the future is unknown at present time.

Donations: It would be nice if people donated so that I can buy food this month. In other case I am going to have to eat really little this month and I am not happy about such things taking place.

Blog post updated at 21:43 UTC on 3-September-2013.

Melting of glaciers in Iceland might mean more volcano activity

In the evening news on Rúv tonight (23-July-2013) a interesting report about possible future volcano activity was being reported. A unpublished paper (according to Rúv News) reports that with more glacier melt in Iceland, more eruptions should be expected to take place. This is mostly true about areas like Vatnajökull glacier, as it holds several volcanoes that are under heavy pressure from the glacier ice. This applies mostly to volcanoes like Grímsfjall volcano, Bárðarbunga volcano and Kverkfjöll volcano, but those three volcano are the largest ones in Vatnajökull glacier.

This might also apply to areas like Mýrdalsjökull glacier. If this study is true, there might be more eruptions in Iceland in next few decades as the glacier melts away. This like so many other things, is however something that is just wait and see seranio.

At the moment, everything is quiet in Iceland when it comes to activity in volcanoes and on fault zones in Iceland.

Rúv News about this

Auknar líkur á eldvirkni með bráðnun jökla (Rúv.is, Icelandic, video)

Minor earthquake swarm in Katla volcano

Today (21-June-2013) there was an earthquake swarm in Katla volcano, this earthquake swarm took place in the same area where the minor eruption in the year 2011 (July) took place and created a minor glacier flood down Múlakvísl river. So far there is nothing that suggest a eruption is about to take place in Katla volcano, this activity needs to be monitored closely since things can change quickly in Katla volcano.

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Earthquake activity in Katla volcano on 21-June-2013. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

This earthquake activity in Katla volcano starts around the same time as it did two years ago (2011), but then earthquake activity started on 17-June-2011 and continued until July-2011 and did not end until November-2011. This type of earthquake activity did also take place in June-2012, but no eruption did take place that summer. I expect this earthquake activity to continue in Katla volcano for the time being, sine most earthquake activity always happens during the summer in Katla volcano. It is unclear that is creating this earthquake swarm, it can be anything from pressure changes in hydro-thermal zones in this area, or magma injections at depth, I do not think any dike intrusions have taken place so far in Katla volcano.

Currently there is nothing that suggests eruption is going to take place soon in Katla volcano.

Blog post updated at 22:06 UTC on 21-June-2013.

Fresh dike intrusion into Bárðarbunga volcano

Interesting earthquake activity continues in Bárðarbunga volcano. There is also interesting earthquake activity taking place in Hamarinn volcano. The source of this activity is magma dike activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. It is most likely not going to result in a eruption, but might be a sign of more activity in the future.

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Activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

There has also been activity in Hamarinn volcano, I do not know if it is connected with the activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. I find it unlikely to be the case, but I cannot rule it out at current time. It is unclear if this is new earthquake activity, it might be as simple as new SIL stations in the area, or this could be real activity increase in the area close to Hamarinn volcano. I am currently not clear on this detail as is. Last eruption in Hamarinn volcano was in July 2011, I did write about it here. It is worth keeping a eye on this activity in the Hamarinn volcano, it has proven to be a unpredictable volcano and it appears that magma is at shallow depth in it.

Blog post updated at 23:32 UTC on 20-June-2013.

Earthquake activity in Hekla, Katla, Krísuvík and Bárðarbunga volcanoes

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Hekla and Katla volcanoes

I am going to write about both this volcanoes here. Since I am going to be using the same image anyway for both volcanoes.

Yesterday (26.04.2013) there was a magnitude 1.1 earthquake in Hekla voclano. This earthquake was in the same area that triggered uncertainty level to be declared just before Easters in March. It was later cancelled when nothing more happened.

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Earthquake in Hekla volcano. Also on this picture earthquake activity in Katla volcano (read more below). Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Katla volcano has been having some earthquake activity in past days. So far it has just been minor earthquakes and nothing more. But it has been taking place where a minor eruption took place in Katla volcano during the summer of 2011. That minor eruption created a minor glacier flood. But it did destroy a bridge and closed down the ring road (road 1) in this part of Iceland.

While this activity is currently nothing to worry about. It is worth keeping a eye on it. Just in case it increases, or if some other changes start to take place in Katla volcano.

Krísuvík volcano

A minor earthquake swarm took place in Krísuvík volcano today (27.04.2013). The largest earthquake had the magnitude of 1.9. The depth of this earthquakes was around 8.6 km. Activity in this area is normal and there does not seem anything strange about it. But Krísuvík volcano has been having periods of inflation and deflation for the past three years. Earthquake activity increases when Krísuvík volcano is in period of inflation. If that is the case now I do not know.

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Earthquake activity in Krísuvík volcano. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Bárðarbunga volcano

A minor earthquake swarm took place in Bárðarbunga volcano today. Largest earthquake in this swarm had the magnitude of 1.3. Depth range was from 18.8 km and up to 11.1 km. This earthquake swarm is important. Since it appears that this is a dike intrusion in Bárðarbunga volcano. But a minor dike intrusion also took place in this area few weeks ago. That also resulted in a minor earthquake swarm in this same area.

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Earthquake activity in Bárðarbunga volcano. Most likely due to minor dike intrusion into the volcano. Copyright of this picture belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

A minor dike intrusions into a volcano does not mean a eruption is going to take place. In many Icelandic volcanoes (and around the world also) dike intrusions into the volcanoes are common event and in most cases do not result in any eruptions. But it is worth keep a watch out for this type of eruptions. Since it might signal a more active period ahead in Bárðarbunga volcano. But it might also just equally don’t mean anything. There is no way to know for sure.

Other then this activity. It has been rather quiet in Iceland at the moment. No larger earthquakes have been taking place in the past two weeks since activity slowed down in Tjörnes Fracture Zone.

Blog post updated at 22:32 UTC on 27.04.2013.
Blog post updated at 22:53 UTC on 27.04.2013.

Minor dike intrusion in Bárðarbunga volcano

Today (05.04.2013) a minor earthquake swarm took place in Bárðarbunga volcano. The depth of this earthquakes was around 18 – 26 km. Meaning this is magma, rather then tectonic creating this earthquakes. None of this earthquakes had magnitude above 1.0.

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Earthquakes in Bárðarbunga volcano. They are the orange dots. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

Dike intrusions happens sometimes in Bárðarbunga volcano without it meaning there is a eruption going to take place soon it. This appears to be one of those cases.

Magnitude 3.6 earthquake in Hamarinn volcano

Last night (05.04.2013) at 01:50 UTC a magnitude 3.6 earthquake took place in Hamarinn volcano (no GVP profile yet!). This earthquake had the depth of 2.1 km. This seems to be a dike intrusion taking place in Hamarinn volcano. No clear signs of harmonic tremor have been detected based on tremor data from Icelandic Meteorological Office.

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The Hamarinn volcano is where the green star is. But that is the location of the magnitude 3.6 earthquake that took place last night. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

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Harmonic tremor plot do not show any harmonic tremor pulse. The signal on this harmonic tremor plot is the earthquake swarm in TFZ for most parts. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Meteorological Office.

This earthquake activity is due to minor dike intrusion. Rather then something else. It is not clear if this activity is just normal activity for Hamarinn volcano or signal about something else is about take place. But as before. Hamarinn volcano remains mostly quiet for the moment.