Volcanos in Iceland, possible alarm?

reply to post by Spacedman13


I did a search on the NEIC database for a 100 km circle around that point from 1900 onwards 4+. These were the results:

Date Time Lat Lon Depth Mag Magt Nst Gap Clo RMS SRC Event ID
----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
1989/07/19 05:28:20.69 65.7000 -11.2670 10.00 4.40 Mb 32 1.28 NEI 198907194011
2005/01/31 20:29:08.35 65.8950 -9.7760 17.70 5.20 Mw 360 1.04 NEI 200501314054

Obviously that last is the one you showed. Before that 1989! That one was closer to land.

Mag 3.4000 Date: 06 Feb 2011

ID: emsc208442
Mag 3.4000 ML
Date: 06-02-2011 01:07:07 UTC
Lat: 64.50000 / Lon: -17.61000
Depth: 1.0000
Number of Stns: 5
Location: ICELAND
Revised: No (Version: 1)

Not showing on Vedur yet.

reply to post by PuterMan


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This is the 2nd 3+magnitude quake to hit right there this week plus there was a swarm upto about 30 quakes near Bárðabungu only a few days ago. If you check out the activity it´s been quite active now the last week and a half, but it might just be because there has been frost and a lot of snow lately so what we are seing might be because of the incresed pressure from the added snow. I´ll be keeping a close eye though, as this is all wery wery wery interesting as always

Edit.. Saw this explanation for the swarm that happend,, google translate

Tuesday night 25/01. observed in many plots smáskjálftar turmoil. They were best of meters of lava Kreppuhryggur (kre) and body wave (file). The source of the quake were the northeast will Bárðarbunga. Quake are highly suspect and very similar icequakes without trembling at the grave example. 0438 (kre, sign) and at. 0515 (kre, file). One can see similar functionality similar small tremors days ahead. Heavy rainfall in the region from 21.1. and may result in increased momentum in the glacier that produces icequakes.

Since the time that this happent the weather changed from good to Frost

Well we got 2 more shallow quakes. They changed the one quake erlier and say it was 2 quakes now.


06.02.2011 07:51:27 64,753 -17,256 2,7 km 3,0 90,05 3,8 km SV af Kistufelli
06.02.2011 07:51:25 64,689 -17,020 1,1 km 3,3 90,01 13,6 km SA af Kistufelli

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[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/21a7b2cda414.gif[/atsimg]

Continuing action..

reply to post by Spacedman13


Looks like the downgraded one of the two to under 3.0. Still going well there.

06.02.2011 10:59:35 64.759 -17.269 8.3 km 1.1 99.0 3.8 km SW of Kistufell
06.02.2011 10:49:11 64.770 -17.295 8.1 km 1.1 99.0 4.3 km WSW of Kistufell
06.02.2011 10:46:47 64.761 -17.230 9.4 km 1.2 99.0 2.4 km SSW of Kistufell
06.02.2011 10:06:17 64.746 -17.256 7.6 km 1.3 99.0 4.5 km SSW of Kistufell
06.02.2011 09:54:24 64.748 -17.268 9.1 km 1.6 99.0 4.6 km SW of Kistufell
06.02.2011 09:40:17 64.739 -17.283 7.6 km 1.0 99.0 5.9 km SW of Kistufell
06.02.2011 09:09:06 64.773 -17.253 13.5 km 1.2 99.0 2.3 km WSW of Kistufell
06.02.2011 09:01:27 64.760 -17.270 9.4 km 1.2 99.0 3.8 km SW of Kistufell
06.02.2011 08:38:02 64.399 -17.326 2.0 km 0.5 99.0 2.6 km WSW of Grímsfjall
06.02.2011 08:37:50 64.788 -17.182 2.3 km 2.0 48.02 1.5 km ENE of Kistufell
06.02.2011 08:37:49 64.757 -17.268 9.8 km 1.5 99.0 3.9 km SW of Kistufell
06.02.2011 08:28:02 64.762 -17.245 8.7 km 1.2 99.0 2.7 km SW of Kistufell
06.02.2011 07:51:27 64.761 -17.267 9.9 km 2.5 99.0 3.6 km SW of Kistufell
06.02.2011 07:51:25 64.689 -17.020 1.1 km 3.3 90.01 13.6 km SE of Kistufell
06.02.2011 04:41:41 65.162 -16.287 5.1 km 1.4 30.41 3.2 km ESE of Herðubreið
06.02.2011 01:51:36 65.115 -16.198 5.0 km 0.8 99.0 8.6 km NNE of Upptyppingar
06.02.2011 01:07:12 64.674 -17.131 4.6 km 3.1 67.93 12.4 km SSE of Kistufell

Jon Friman is not making anything of it

There might be a volcano eruption in less then a one year time in Báðarbunga volcano (Kistufell field)

I do not know if this is Icelandic media sensationalism or just a simple misquote in the news article. But according to Morgunblaðið (mbl.is) in a interview with the geologist named Sigurlaugar Hjaltadóttir (works at Icelandic Met Office) she sad that there is more risk of a eruption in north-west side of Vatnajökull glacier due to the high earthquake activity in the area. But while the earthquakes continue to be at great depth, there is a less chance of a eruption in the area.

Well actually probably unlikely - I guess just a result of having 3 larger quakes today!!

reply to post by PuterMan


What i am not understanding is she says that while the quakes stay at a great depth we don´t have anything to worry about , seing as the new larger quakes are that shallow is she meaning as long as the smaller quakes are not shallow?

And once again the quakes have stopped and everything is at peace

Jón Frímann says: February 5, 2011 at 01:35 I am now in Denmark. Things should start going to normal update rate soon. I am not sure when exactly that might happen. But it is something less then two weeks away I think.

He says things will return to normal ,, next day we got those hehe. You gotta love the irony of things like that.
Nothing to see here folks , everything is normal.

I missed the news where Páll Einarson talked about the possibility of a eruption there, would have been nice to see it since he talked about the mantle plume also. Really is mindboggeling why there hasn´t been much interest in doing more studies and putting out more money into research of these area´s , given the history of this country.

Seing as the incresed activity near vatnajökull, Puterman went ahead and put together a thread with information you won´t want to miss out on.

Check out this thread
Geologist worry about earthquake activity in Kistufell field (Bárðarbunga volcano),

reply to post by Spacedman13


Thanks for that. People need to know.

I came across this and need some translation help;

Here is another tool : Natural features??

You can select active layers and under
jarfræði(geolgy)
jarðhitasvæði(hot springs),
sprungur(cracks),
gígar(craters)

I could do with a translation of all th other features on the left hand side as this looks to be a really interesting tool.

Can you help with that?

In the popout elements I can scape the text and get a translation but I can't scrape the menu.

sprungur(cracks),

Orange popout (What does the name mean)
Cracks: Slow but steady movement in the Earth's crust causes tension in the rock. When the tension becomes so great that the rock can withstand her, rocks in existence. The movement formed cracks, and cracks kippast barman then in opposite directions. Such cracks are called break lines, and are either sloping or vertical. (Þorleifur Einarsson, 1971. Geology. Heimskringla. at.)

Red popout
Database: Geology
Time: 1988-1998
Subject: Cracks
Description: Geological map showing the age and types of jarðlaga(??) Iceland is made of and factors related to the development of the country such as craters and break lines as well as other factors such as geothermal, fossil, tilt and more.
Warranty: Natural History
Registration of metadata: 09.07.2008/ÁFV
For more information: Natural History

reply to post by PuterMan


Hehe , sorry about the late reply , but as you know im always a bit late or slow

The Orange means Information or Trivia.
The Red means Content
The Green means Background

The rest is kinda translated by me and google translate but sometimes either of us know icelandic
Staðfræðigögn = Topography data or math data
Grunngögn = Basic data
Fossir og flúðir = Waterfalls and rapids
vatnafar = hydrology
vegir = roads
mannvirki = structures
þéttbýli = urban

Fjarkönnunargögn = Remote Sensing Data
Gervitunglamyndir = Satellite images
Loftmyndir = Air photos

Lífríki = Ecosystem
Veiðitölur úr ám = Hunting numbers from rivers
Laxveiði í borgarfirði = Salmon fishing in Borgarfjörður

Náttúruvá = Nature wow,, lol love this translation.. think it´s something like naturehazard
Ofanflóð = Snow-or landslide
snjóflóð , óflokkað = avalanche, unsorted
þurrt flekahlaup = dry ?
þurrt lausasnjóflóð = dry loose avalanches
kófhlaup = ?
vott flekahlaup = wet ?
vott lausasnjóflóð = wet loose avalanches
krapaflóð = slush flood
aurskriða = mudslide
vatnsflóð = flood
vatnsborð flóða = flood water level
flóðför = flood movement or flood marks

Veðurfar = Weather
meðalhiti = average temperature
hámark#i = maximum temperature
lágmark#i = lowest temperature
úrkoma = rainfall
meðalúrkoma = average rainfall

Vatnafar og jöklar = Lakes and glaciers
flóðagreining = flood analysis
mælistöð = measuring station
jöklamyndir = glacier photos
afrennsli = drainage
jöklar = Glaciers
flákar útlínur jökla = fillet edges of glaciers
vatnafarsflokkun = hydrology classification
setmiðlaðar dragár = ? something regarding rivers
auravörn á láglendi = ? guessing mud protection of lowland
votlendismiðlun á hálendi = Wetlands sharing in the highlands
ómiðlaðar dragár = ? This is kinda hard to translate as the letter "Á" means river
snjómiðlaðar dragár = Snow shared drawriver,,, best i can come up with
jökulsker = glacial stands ,, more like Glacial island or glacial small area of rocks
jarðvegmiðlaðar dragár á lági =(google=reduce soil shared the song)groundway rivers on lowland
jöklar án grunnvatns = glaciers without groundwater
votlendismiðlun á hálendi = Wetlands (sharing) in the highlands
jöklar með grunnvatn = glaciers with groundwater
lindár af hriplekum svæðum = springs of leaky regions ?
lindár af treglekum svæðum = springs of leaks reluctant Region
jarðvegs og setmiðlun á hálendi = soil and (sediments) in the highlands
mýrarvötn á láglendi = marshes in lowland lakes

Náttúruverndaráætlun = Nature Conservation plan
tillaga = proposal
lög = Laws
náttúruminjaskrá = natural heritage list
friðlýst svæði = declared protected area
þjóðgarðar = national parks
friðlönd = nature reserves
náttúruvætti = ? nature spirits
búsvæði = habitat area´s
fólkvangar = Country parks
þjóðgarðar friðlýstir með sérlögum = peace parks declared by special law
friðlýst með sérlögum = protected by special laws

Skóglendi = Woodland
náttúrlegt birkilendi = natural birch ending
náttúrlegur birkiskógur = natural birch forest
náttúrlegt birkikjarr = natural birch scrub
náttúrleg endurnýjun birkis = natural birch regeneration
Ræktað skóglendi = Cultivated forests
skógræktarsvæði = forest breeding areas
blandskógar = mixed forest
barrskógar = coniferous forests
laufskógar = leaf forests

Jarðvegur = Ground-soil
jarðvegskort = ground maps
melajörð = gravel soil
brúnjörð = brown soil
sandjörð = sand soil
melajörð sandjörð = gravel soil sand soil
brúnjörð blautjörð = brown soil, wet soil
sandjörð bergjörð = sand soil rock soil
bergjörð = rock soil
svartjörð = Black soil
mójörð = peat soil

Jarðfræði = Geology
jarðhitasvæði = geothermal heat zone
sprungur = cracks
misgengi = faults
jarðskjálftasprungur = earthquake cracks
hallamislægi = ? Slope (difference)
gossprungur = fissure cracks
gígar = craters
dyngjuhvirflar = ?????
jarðlög = strata
súr hraun söguleg = acidic lava historical
súrt innskot = acidic clips
súr hraun forsöguleg = acidic lava prehistoric
súrt gosberg nútími = acidic volcanic rock modern
hraun yngra en = lava younger than
gosberg eldra en = volcanic rock older then
hraun forsöguleg = prehistoric lava
setlög frá nútíma = sediments from modern
hraun söguleg = historic lava
basískt innskot = alkaline clips
móberg setlög yngri en = tuff sediments younger then
surtbrandur = ? (Surt Brand)

Orkunýting = Energy efficiency
raforkuver = powerplant
vatnsafl = hydropower
jarðvarmi = Geothermal
metan = methane
sorpbrennsla = Waste incineration
dísilstöð = Diesel Station

Let me know if there´s anything more you need translated

reply to post by Spacedman13


Thanks ever so much that is fantastic.

Much appreciated

A swarm just started in the ridge area 74 quakes so far most of them in between 1-2 richter

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What is going on here spacedman? Have not seen this area active before?

The massive subglacial Prestahnukur volcano at the SW end of the Langjökull icecap has associated rift zones to the north and SW that have erupted during the Holocene. Hot springs are associated with the rhyolitic Prestahnukur central volcano. The classic Icelandic shield volcano Skjaldbreidur was formed at the southern end of the Prestahnukur volcanic system, between Thorsjökull glacier and Thingvallavatn lake. The broad, low-angle shield volcano produced more than 13 cu km of basaltic lava flows during the early Holocene. The smaller mid-Holocene Sköflungur lava shield lies immediately NE of Skjaldbreidur.

Three 3+ in this area sort of out of the blue.

Date/Time UTC,Latitude,Longitude,Magnitude,Depth(Km),Location
2011-02-12T10:11:51.000Z,64.56000,-20.64000,3.4000,1.0000,ICELAND
2011-02-12T10:08:46.200Z,64.35000,-20.71000,3.3000,1.0000,ICELAND
2011-02-12T10:05:42.500Z,64.56000,-20.64000,3.5000,2.0000,ICELAND

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I think these are what is showing on Jon Friman's recorders

reply to post by PuterMan


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20 now and climbing. That is 15 in the last 10 minutes.

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Iceland is looking very..........colourful today.

I could really do with an Icelandic earthquake alarm clock, things always happen when i have a sleep in.

Look at the spikes at Grimsfjall

hraun.vedur.is...

It seems like the various depths of these quakes are all over the place, from very shallow at 2-4km in depth, to a little bit deeper at 10-14km in depth.

Looking at the list of quakes off the Iceland Met page, it almost seems like a pattern of several shallow quakes and then a deeper one or two, and then back to a series of shallow ones.

Just an amateur observation that I thought odd.

en.vedur.is...=table

reply to post by lasertaglover


Yes i noticed this today also.
When clicking on the link you provided there was a weather warning issued:

Warning: A strong gale warning (more than 20 m/s) is in effect for the south, southwest and the highland by afternoon. Valid to 13.02.2011 18:00

en.vedur.is...

I wonder if the wind can affect the readings??? Bearing in mind that this warning is for the south and southwest.
I'm sure I've seen this over on the Yellowstone thread.

reply to post by boo1981


It is my understanding that gale warnings are quite common over there for sure.

There have been three more quakes there since I last posted a little bit ago.

en.vedur.is...=map