Contact | RSS | EN | DE | EL | ES | FR | IT | RU

Reykjanes volcano (Reykjanes peninsula (SW Iceland)) activity update: Alert level raised to Yellow- earthquake swarm, inflation

Mon, 27 Jan 2020, 15:24 | BY: MJFLEGEND
InSAR data showing inflation. Credit: IMO.
InSAR data showing inflation. Credit: IMO.
IMO reports: An inflation has been detected since January 21st and is centred just west of Mt. Thorbjorn on Reykjanes peninsula. The inflation is unusually rapid, around 3-4 mm per day and has accumulated to 2 cm to date. It has been detected both on continuous GPS stations and in InSAR images. The inflation is most likely a sign of magma accumulation at a depth of just a few km. If magma accumulation is causing the inflation, the accumulation is very small, with the first volume estimate is around 1 million cubic meters.

A state of uncertainty has been declared. The Aviation Colour Code has been raised to Yellow for Reykjanes.

Previous news

Wed, 22 Jan 2020, 06:00

Reykjanes volcano (Iceland) - Smithsonian / USGS Weekly Volcanic Activity Report for 22 January-28 January 2020 (New Activity / Unrest)

IMO reported possible magma accumulation beneath Reykjanes, centered along the plate boundary below the Svartsengi fissure system, just W of Thorbjorn. Deformation began on 21 January and was unusually rapid, with the rate of inflation occurring at 3-4 mm per day (3 cm total by 29 January), as detected by InSAR and continuous GPS data. Magma accumulation, if that was causing the inflation, was small with an estimate volume of 1 million cubic meters, at 3-5 km depth. ... Read all
Sun, 13 Oct 2013, 21:39

Reykjanes peninsual (Iceland): shallow magnitude 4.8 earthquake

Location of this morning's earthquakes on the SW tip of the Reykjanes peninsula of Iceland
A shallow (10 km) magnitude 4.8 earthquake with many pre- and aftershocks (or a seismic swarm) occurred this morning (Sun) at 07:34 UTC at the SW tip of the Reykjanes peninsula, on the SW active rift zone. The swarm of earthquakes included several quakes of magnitude 3 and higher. The strongest earthquake was widely felt in SE Iceland. Read all
Show more
Reykjanes volcano
Crater rows 230 m / 755 ft
Reykjanes peninsula (SW Iceland), 63.89°N / -22.52°W
Current status: erupting (4 out of 5) Reykjanes volcano eruptions:
1211, 1226, 2023 (Dec), 2024 (Jan), 2024 (Feb), 2024 (Mar)
Typical eruption style
effusive (lava flows)