Woah, Something is Letting Loose in Iceland right now! 4.9 quakes and swarm!

Its the volcano's en route to the capital that worry me.

Iceland may be a little bigger tomorrow if this keeps going.

Double post!

reply to post by Anmarie96


yes, the usgs does report under 4.5, you have to select it as a search option. anything under a 4.5 isn't really worth worrying about, and those that you guys are talking about are like, 2.7 and under, which means no one probably knows they're happening, they just show up on the instruments. i check the usgs earthquake and volcano pages every day, sometimes a couple of times a day. i don't see any need to panic or cause alarm just yet. they'll probably have another 2-3 quakes ranging from 4.0 to 4.8 in the next couple of days. i don't feel it'll be anything, i could be wrong. but, that's just me.

Well, I definately agree that something is up. As soon as I looked at the USGS site and saw the two quakes listed there, I knew before I even looked at the tremor maps.

Yes, it IS a big deal.....especially to the many people that would be adversely affected by a major erruption.

Hopefully it will quiet down without Katla getting involved. However, given that history has shown she is due and the way the tremors are looking...I think this all may very well be leading up to what we have been watching for.

Well, got back here- and glad to see nothing real major happened on this plate boundary.

But I have another problem. All the major seismic networks are down- like totally down. I got nothing in GEE- anywhere- except a few stations on TA network and a couple on CI network. US, IU, II, GT, AV, AK, all down... Running blind. This totally sucks.

Other than that, thanks for the comments all. Hoping that thing don't bust open and cause a tsunami.

thanks for the info, and good luck over there!

Ee, you folk do get excited. It is nothing, it is the Reykjanes ridge. How come you were not jumping up and down in September when there were some 5+ a bit further down?

Date/Time UTC,Latitude,Longitude,Magnitude,Depth(Km),Location
2010-09-09T10:31:05.000Z,59.56760,-30.18660,5.2000,10.0000,Reykjanes Ridge
2010-09-27T00:08:45.000Z,57.67410,-32.77590,5.5000,10.0000,Reykjanes Ridge
2010-09-27T00:16:13.000Z,57.72990,-32.71380,5.4000,10.3000,Reykjanes Ridge
2010-09-27T00:28:13.000Z,57.72000,-32.74810,5.0000,10.2000,Reykjanes Ridge
2010-10-22T15:38:14.000Z,55.40010,-35.19490,4.7000,17.2000,Reykjanes Ridge

The quakes are moving up the line from further south, and have been doing so since November last year (very) slowly but surely, but that is releasing pressure so that is good.
Using this map go back week by week watching the bottom left corner. As far back as you go you will see that the Reykjanes/Hengill area is active.

To the poster concerned for Reykjavik, there is no danger from these. Mag 6 and 7 in Hengill would be a problem.

To the poster concerned about Katla. This area has nothing to do with Katla - it is on a different part of the ridge.

[atsimg]http://files.abovetopsecret.com/images/member/4ce85346fa14.png[/atsimg]


Look at this post Quake Watch

It is my belief that the USGS has these figures wrong and these are all sub 4 quakes.

Originally posted by PuterMan
Ee, you folk do get excited. It is nothing, it is the Reykjanes ridge. How come you were not jumping up and down in September when there were some 5+ a bit further down?

Well, maybe because in this case we had a swarm happen so fast including bigger quakes, over the mere period of hours, and in a potentially more dangerous spot. Being so close to mainland Iceland, right on a plate boundary on that ridge, if a thrust event occurred there- southwestern Iceland, not to mention the UK and many other places could have been, and still can be severely affected by a tsunami.

And it may not be over yet. You know as well as I that once activity like that starts, it can be either the beginnings of something bigger, or it can be over.

If what you are implying is that there was no need to start a thread on it... Ok, thanks for the opinion... I might wait next time until a tsunami has wiped out the world...

Originally posted by TrueAmerican
if a thrust event occurred there- southwestern Iceland, not to mention the UK and many other places could have been, and still can be severely affected by a tsunami.

First my apologies if I offended you, no offence was intended and most of that was not directed at you. You will have to make allowance for the British 'stiff upper lip'. Ancient Britons like me just don't get wound up about these things. There are much more frustrating and worrisome things going on in the world than Icelandic earthquakes - interesting though they are.

I have a far greater vested interest in Iceland than most on this thread since it is right on my doorstep (well 800 miles) and whilst I would not be affected by a tsunami as I am 104 metres above sea level we have family members who would be so I am not about to down-cry events just for the sake of it. We even got to smell the volcano one day when Eyja went off.

And it may not be over yet. You know as well as I that once activity like that starts, it can be either the beginnings of something bigger, or it can be over.

You are right, however my point was that this was not some out of the blue activity, unlike Esjufjoll a couple of days ago which very definitely was. Remember also (partly in hindsight although the suggestion was there) that Iceland did not report this as these levels of quakes, 3.6 being their max.

Originally posted by PuterMan
Remember also (partly in hindsight although the suggestion was there) that Iceland did not report this as these levels of quakes, 3.6 being their max.

True. However, are we SURE of the cause of the discrepancy? I guess it depends on which agency you'd prefer to believe. We know there are network troubles. Maybe one of us should email USGS and see what they say. I have emailed the Icelandic Met Office before, and did get a response....And well, shall we say I wasn't too thrilled... They kind of gave me the runaround.

At least the guys I have email-conversed with at the USGS are clear, direct, and to the point about questions.

Anyway, that aside, no needs to even go there with me PM- and geez, no apology needed ever. Say what you feel man. I depend on it to a respectable degree. And oh, please don't ever take me not responding for a while as anything, period. I keep a bunch of stuff open at once, and am all over the place all the time.

Quakes are just one interest I have, just for fun... You are the real expert around here. Seriously!

Start a thread, carry on, viva ATS anyway it happens!

reply to post by TrueAmerican


I could kick myself on 2 counts. (1) because I did not think of this helicorder earlier and (2) because I keep on meaning to set it up on an hourly snap but have not got round to it yet.



I would say that was under Mag 4 - what you are seeing is the 21:58 still just on the screen,

I am going to go off and set that regular capture up now.

reply to post by PuterMan


Yeah, maybe you should set that up.

Because I wouldn't make any judgment based solely on that pic. You don't see the onset of the wave or the duration. What station is that, where is it, how far was it from the epicenter, and is SPS 100 the sensitivity?

Just to throw it out there, there was a notable quake in the Tetons and a somewhat minor quake on the new madrid today. Not that a 2.8 is odd for the new madrid, but for it to happen 2.5 hours after the one in the Tetons that caused a mudslide...its raising my eyebrows. Alone, none of these are noteworthy, but together, there is an aweful lot of movement it seems. Something to keep an eye on at least. Energy is going to escape somewhere.....where o where shal it be?

reply to post by TrueAmerican


I have set that up now to capture every 2 hours that my PC is on so that should get around 7 to 8 snaps a day.

That instrument belongs to Jon Friman and is a private heli based on Hekla. It is about 128 miles from the epicentre.

Would the KP5 for the sun today have had an effect on these instruments?

Jon Friman's helicorder
Green = No data have been recorded.
Black = Data registered. Noise generated single spikes.
Red = An earthquake has been recorded. Noise figure sometimes single red spikes.
Orange = Remote earthquake has been recorded (Tele Seismic event).
www.simnet.is...

It's just viral marketing for World of Warcrafts "Cataclysm" Expansion, due out on Decemebr 7th.

It's just viral marketing for World of Warcrafts "Cataclysm" Expansion, due out on Decemebr 7th.

This is a formal invitation to join my ongoing thread, no need to post it you know wich one it is. It might be better then starting a new thread each time we get a spike of quakes here in Iceland. You will end up having 50 threads all addressing smaller quakes here in Iceland.

All over the world the Earth is coming closer to something inescapable. Look at all the news of natural disasters in the last few days and weeks and you will find that at any moment everything can drastically change for everyone. Maybe it is my imagination but I feel the world is at a crossroad right now just waiting for GOD to decide destiny...and Everyone who is watching are absolutely Spellbound. God in Motion. Hope this story has a Good End.

Looks like the reykjanes ridge is acting up again:

en.vedur.is...

So far just 2.5 magnitudes or so, but it is starting to swarm again.