Iceland warming up again - quakes swarming

Iceland warming up again - quakes swarming

It would be really sad if the Blue Lagoon was destroyed with lava flows
Not to mention the thermal power station and the town of Grindavik
Am pleased i got there earlier this year

An update video....

Yikes.

Another video from a geologist with more seismic data.

DaveE said:

Another video from a geologist with more seismic data.

thanks, yes, more info is surfacing every day

It really looks like a possibility of an eruption a bit further to the SW of the ones of the last 3 years

It looks like they shut down the Blue Lagoon resort now, because the earthquakes are increasing...


https://apnews.com/article/blue-lag...t-attraction-96b8fb04f289d261abde82751fdd1ae5

Significant damage to roads around Grindavik.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/t...-to-concerns-of-volcanic-eruption/vi-AA1jNezZ

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/t...y-due-to-volcanic-eruption-threat/vi-AA1jN9Qs

https://en.vedur.is/about-imo/news/a-seismic-swarm-started-north-of-grindavik-last-night

Since the morning of November 11th, seismic activity related to the magma intrusion remains fairly constant. Since midnight November12th, around 1000 earthquakes have been recorded within the dyke, and all of them have been below M3.0 in magnitude. The most seismic activity has been located in the region north of Grindavík. Most of the earthquakes are at a depth of 3-5km corresponding to the lower part of the dyke intrusion.

GPS measurements covering the past 24 hours show that deformation associated with the dyke intrusion that formed on Friday, November 10th has slowed. This can be an indication that magma is moving closer to the surface, new models will be run as soon as new data comes in to update the model.

It was a joint assessment from the meeting, based on the latest data, that there is scope for temporary measures under the control of the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management to collect necessities for the residents and attend to urgent errands in Grindavík and the surrounding area.

Swarm of earthquakes in SW Iceland, west of Grundavik, including Mag 5 off the coast.
https://earthquake.usgs.gov/earthquakes/eventpage/us7000la6d/executive

M 5.0 - 9 km SW of Grindavík, Iceland​

• 2023-11-10 18:09:00 (UTC)
• 63.773°N 22.554°W
• 10.0 km depth
• Interactive Map

I'm not a geologist, but isn't it better to have multiple small earthquakes and eruptions ands release the energy that way than to have one big one?

Vanadium 50 said:

I'm not a geologist, but isn't it better to have multiple small earthquakes and eruptions ands release the energy that way than to have one big one?

I think it's more that the earthquakes are indicative of a magma chamber close to the surface.

Magma is continuing its approach to the town, prompting authorities to order an evacuation. The roads leading to Grindavik are currently closed, with inhabitants of the southwest portions being the first to leave. The Icelandic Civil Defense Agency emphasizes that this evacuation is purely precautionary.

Recent reports indicate that the magma tunnel has reached the town and crossed the coastline. It is now expanding under the sea. The Icelandic Meteorological Office predicts an eruption near Sundhnjúkagígar, north of Grindavik, could occur soon.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/t...wn-as-a-volcano-prepares-to-erupt/ar-AA1jM1Ge

It's not just a single volcanic vent, but a very long miles/km fissure that may rupture, i.e., a magma intrusion erupting over miles, and possibly through the town of Grindavik. Of course, lava is flowing from the Fagradalsfjall volcano, which one of 6 volcanic systems in the Reykjanes Peninsula.

The artlcle emphasizes that the location of the Fagradalsfjall volcano was dormant for nearly 800 years. Since 2021, the volcanic system has erupted twice, and seismic activity has spread over a larger area, and in the village of Gridavik. There is some mention of uplifting of the ground, but I don't know the extent (breadth) of the uplift. Someone mentioned 3 inches (7.6 cm), but it could be more or less depending on location.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/t...cuates-ahead-of-possible-eruption/vi-AA1jMT1jAn interesing perspective on Greenland and Iceland.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/news/technology/iceland-comes-from-greenland/vi-AA1jLXxu

So, Iceland sits over a geologic hotspot in the earth's crust/mantle, over which Greenland passed millions of years ago. As I understand it, Iceland sits on the mid-Atlantic Ridge, which is the boundary between the North Amercian Plate and the Eurasia Plate. The mid-Atlantic Ridge is a "divergent or constructive plate boundary", which means the two plates are moving apart, and magma occasionally rises to the surface, as in the case of Iceland.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_Ridge#/media/File:Iceland_Mid-Atlantic_Ridge_map.svg

Islands form along the ridge.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_Ridge#Islands

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mid-Atlantic_Ridge#Iceland
The submarine section of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge close to southwest Iceland is known as the Reykjanes Ridge. The Mid-Atlantic Ridge runs through Iceland where the ridge is also known as the Neovolcanic Zone. In the north of Iceland the Tjörnes Fracture Zone connects Iceland to the Kolbeinsey Ridge.

I suppose some additional information/updating is forthcoming as events unfold. Ostensibly, Iceland is growing - getting wider (east-west), as well as vertically.Edit/update: https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/t...-over-threat-of-volcanic-eruption/vi-AA1jQrPb

A 15-kilometer- (nine-mile-) long magma corridor now stretches from just northwest of Grindavík into the Atlantic Ocean, according to the Civil Protection Agency, which used models built from data collected in the area on Saturday.

https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/volcanic-fears-river-magma-cuts-073735840.html

Fissures have opened up around Grindavik. There is concern about SO₂ being released into the air around Grindavik.

Edit/update:

Icelandic officials have evacuated the town of Grindavik, warning that a volcanic eruption is imminent. Cracks have appeared in the earth there, snaking under buildings, splitting streets and pouring steam into the air. And while magma hasn’t yet bubbled to the surface, experts say it probably will soon.

https://www.washingtonpost.com/weat...d-volcano-grindavik-reykjanes-fagradalsfjall/

Volcanic Iceland is rumbling again as magma rises − a geologist explains eruptions in the land of fire and ice​

https://theconversation.com/volcani...-eruptions-in-the-land-of-fire-and-ice-217671

Radar satellite data from the Icelandic Meteorological Office show that a broad area around Grindavík sank by about 3 feet (1 meter) over 10 days, and the GPS station in town moved about 3 feet (1 meter) to the southeast with respect to the North American plate from Oct. 28 to Nov. 9. Large cracks have broken streets and houses in Grindavík.

The Grindavík dike appeared to have reached within about 0.6 miles (1 kilometer) of the surface by Nov. 14 and could soon reach the surface.

Where the lava reaches the surface is the concern aside from the ongoing seismic activity. In a figure showing the rise and fall of the land, Grindavik is east of the land that had the greatest level of subsidence. Interesting there are red spots in the purple that would indicate rising locations is an area that mostly subsided. Or, could that be noise? A ridge east of Grindavik has risen.

Iceland derives 30% of its electricity from geothermal sources that use underground heat to drive turbines and produce power.

A hydrothermal plant called Svartsengi, near Grindavík, uses the underground heat to provide hot water for several thousand homes plus 75 megawatts of electricity.
. . .

That power plant is also part of the reason the Blue Lagoon is so popular. When the power plant was built in 1976, the plan was to discharge its still hot wastewater into an adjacent low area, expecting that it would seep into the ground. However, the geothermal water was loaded with dissolved silica, which turned to minerals when the water cooled, creating an impermeable layer. A small lake began to form.

Because of its high silica content, the water in this lake is a spectacular blue color that inspired the creation of the geothermal spa. The Blue Lagoon is now one of the top tourist attractions in the country.

https://www.astronomy.com/science/fiber-optics-help-scientists-take-the-pulse-of-our-planet/

My wife and I visited last year and became friends with a hiking guide. He sent us some wild photos of roads totally wrecked. Fingers crossed for our Iceland friends!

Greg Bernhardt said:

Fingers crossed for our Iceland friends!

I think they are all evacuated from the danger zone now, but their homes are still at risk, unfortunately.

Some uplifting north and west of Grindavik may indicates a rise in magma.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/t...rise-radar-images-eruption-latest/ar-AA1kiDYZ

Using radar imagery taken over the weekend, the Icelandic Met Office said there had been a "significant crustal uplift" near Svartsengi, a geothermal hotspot on a southwestern cape on the island, near the capital Reykjavik, which was "indicative of a deep inflation" taking place. The ground has moved upwards by as much as three centimeters.

As of November 23, The National Police Commissioner of Iceland has downgraded the Civil Protection Alert Phase from Emergency to Alert over seismic activity on the Reykjanes Peninsula.
https://www.visiticeland.com/article/seismic-activity-on-the-reykjanes-peninsula-iceland-2023
Relatively quiet at the moment.
https://en.vedur.is/earthquakes-and-volcanism/earthquakes/reykjanespeninsula/

https://www.visiticeland.com/article/volcano-info

Iceland eruption has started.

DaveE said:

Iceland eruption has started.

Why is the datestamp on the video now in 2023, but in the audio the person says "here, listen to this audio from 2022"?

berkeman said:

Why is the datestamp on the video now in 2023, but in the audio the person says "here, listen to this audio from 2022"?

IDK, not my live stream, dude. Ask Shawn? Maybe they want you to listen to audio from 2022?

I hope this is real video of the event.
https://www.ruv.is/frettir/innlent/2023-12-18-eldgosid-ur-thyrlu-landhelgisgaeslunnar-399992

A Coast Guard helicopter flew over the eruptions this evening with scientists and civil defense representatives. Bragi Valgeirsson, RÚV's cinematographer, was with us and captured these images of the beginning of the eruption.

That's impressive. The eruption fissure is about 2.5 miles (4 km) long. Apparently, where the lava will flow is not yet clear, but it could threaten Grindavik and the nearby power station.

https://www.nytimes.com/2023/12/18/world/europe/iceland-volcano-eruption-earthquakes.html

The location of the fissure, which is some 2.5 miles long and growing quickly, is not far from the Svartsengi Power Plant and the town of Grindavík, which was evacuated last month because of heightened seismic activity, leading to concerns than an eruption was likely.

In the initial assessment Monday night, volcanologists had said that the eruption had occurred in one of the worst possible locations, posing a significant and immediate threat to both the evacuated town and the geothermal power plant.

But after volcanologists had a chance to fly over the site of the eruption in the Reykjanes Peninsula, the immediate situation did not appear as dire as initially feared, though the size of the eruption was larger than anticipated and the direction of the lava’s flow still unpredictable.

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/t...lava-bed-map-as-tongue-flows-west/ar-AA1lNZsL

The lava flow has decreased somewhat. The lava fountains have decreased in height.Edit/update: (Sat, 23 Dec) - Iceland’s Fagradalsfjall volcano spewed more lava on Wednesday as engineers worked to divert the flow away from the Svartsengi power plant.
https://apnews.com/video/volcanoes-...nal-national-6da7153e7e3e4ba4b4ef118ccb7f4116

Iceland Volcano Update: New Eruption Warning Issued​

https://www.msn.com/en-us/weather/t...pdate-new-eruption-warning-issued/ar-AA1m92RN

A horizontal intrusion of magma—around 6 miles in diameter—has been building under the peninsula since November 10, and is thought to be channeling magma into a vertical intrusion—estimated to be around 9.3 miles long—near the coastal fishing town of Grindavik.

Swarms of seismic activity led to anticipation that a volcanic event was set to occur, with magma likely propagating to the surface through the vertical dike. That occurred on Monday, December 18, with lava shooting up to 650 feet into the air from five fissures in the initial phase of the eruption.

Ben Edwards, an American volcanologist who has visited the Reykjanes Peninsula multiple times, previously told Newsweek that the eruption could mark the start of over a century of volcanic activity in the region.

His remarks came after a leading Icelandic volcanologist told Newsweek that after a dormant period, the activity leading up to the eruption could mark the start of an "intense" period of "rifting and volcanism" on the peninsula.

Iceland could be growing. I wonder of the volcanism will propagate northward as well as southward.

Looks like a SCi-FI planet you just crash landed on.

It’s here again. Eruption started a few hours ago, much closer to Grindavík this time, with the first fissure actually cutting directly through the lava barrier they’d built over the last two months, and a second fissure opening right next to the edge of town. Reports seem to indicate that there’s been another 70-80 centimeters of layers displacement under the town as well.

Doesn’t look very promising for the town right now.

Edit: forgot to add the video.

Flyboy said:

Doesn’t look very promising for the town right now.

In the last part of the video, it looks like a small fissure is opening within 100 m or closer to the northern border of the town. The narrator mentions that someone fell into a fissure, but was not found!

An eruptionstarted at 7:57 UTC

The fissureopening is southeast of Hagafell mountain.

Thesouthern most part of the fissure is about 900 m from the town of Grindavík.

The openingis south of lava flow deflection barriers that are being built north ofGrindavík. Lava is now flowing towards the town.

Ref: https://en.vedur.is/about-imo/news/a-seismic-swarm-started-north-of-grindavik-last-night

I'm wondering if the sub-surface lava is pushing southward, or a fissure/fault is simply opening or 'unzipping' toward Grindavik.

Astronuc said:

The narrator mentions that someone fell into a fissure, but was not found!

Yeah, contractor working on backfilling a fissure. He was using a soil compactor and the ground opened up beneath him. They spent three days trying to find him and weren’t successful. They did, however, find out the fissures at the surface are actually quite sizable underneath and issued evacuation orders effective Monday. Looks like they were a little bit late.

Astronuc said:

I'm wondering if the sub-surface lava is pushing southward, or a fissure/fault is simply opening or 'unzipping' toward Grindavik.

There’s evidence for both. Best hypothesis right now is that the November 10th dike has been reactivated by fresh magma intrusion. That one is believed to have extended out under the ocean but they can’t confirm it.

The site Grindavík is built on is known to have at least one sizable fracture through it, and if memory serves, it’s from an eruption in the area in the 1300s. 1950s era aerial photography seems to imply that they backfilled at least one pretty significant surface fissure, and it seems that the same fissure activated in November during that ground movement crisis. They’re pretty confident that the dike is running through that weak spot, although the current surface vents of the eruption seem to be displaced from that fissure. I’m curious to see what the Icelandic Met Office has to say.

https://en.vedur.is/about-imo/news/a-seismic-swarm-started-north-of-grindavik-last-night

Page will update with official reports from the IMO as they give press briefings. Given the dynamic situation, it can be pretty far behind what’s actually happening at the moment, but the graphics showing activity and locations are quite useful.

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge runs right through Iceland, and it seems to fork east of Reykjavik, with a western branch running along the Reykjanes peninsula, which seems to have multiple faults or intrusions, including one that passes through Grindavik.

https://geologictimepics.files.wordpress.com/2018/09/iceland2geomapplates.jpg

From Comments on the figure:

New material erupts in the rift zones as they pull apart, separating the two major tectonic plates. In Iceland there’s a third microplate between the two rifts. The process continues through time, creating volcanic activity with ages somewhat symmetrical about each of the rifts. From the map, you can also see that most of Iceland’s big thermal areas lie within the rift zones.

Ref: https://geologictimepics.com/2018/0...-atlantic-rift-and-some-other-geology-photos/

At 1500 local time, it appears lava has reached some houses.
https://www.bbc.com/news/live/world-europe-67973655

On the BBC page, there is a comment (1400 local): New fissure opens just north of Grindavik, with lava 50m from town
That would be the one I cited above 100 m or closer. So, it was closer - 50 m.

By 1430 local time, it looks like lava from the fissure 50 m from the town had reach nearby houses..

The BBC live stream shows the fissure near the town. Within one hour, the lava had read houses on the edge of town. Two images are from 1406 and 1505 showing how quickly the situation changes.

Watching a live camera right now and there’s clearly burning structures at the edge of town.

That said, the lava barrier is actually pretty damn effective. The big fissure is mostly outputting uphill from the barrier and it’s flowing along it. There is some activity downhill from the barrier, and it’s definitely flowing towards town, but not nearly as much as the big flow along the barrier.

As we've been reporting, two fissures opened today near the Icelandic town of Grindavik - both spewing lava.

The first formed early this morning around 1km (0.6 miles) from the town. You can see it at the top of the image.

Authorities say the lava flow from this fissure had largely stabilised before the second opened, around noon.

This fissure was much closer to Grindavik - less than 100m (320 feet) away.

The lava from that fissure has since spilled into the town, setting houses on fire.

Ref: BBC reporting from the area.

Jan 14 Eruption in Iceland: Livestream with Geologist Shawn Willsey​

The beginning of the Vent Opening Near Icelandic Homes