An earthquake of magnitude 3.2 struck at Langjökull glacier in West Iceland this morning. According to the Icelandic Met Office (IMO) the quake's origin was in Geitlandsjökull, one of Langjökull´s outlet glaciers, which is located in Iceland's western rift zone, The quake hit at 9.47 this morning and was felt in the close by Borgarfjörður fjord. Earthquakes are common in this area.
IMO's South Iceland Lowland (SIL) monitoring system recorded about 200 earthquakes this week (30 November to 6 December). The largest earthquake was magnitude 3.3. and occurred at the northern rim of Bárðarbunga caldera, the huge sub-glacial volcano in Vatnajökull glacier. About 40 earthquakes were detected in the caldera during the week and about 15 in the dyke northeast of it.
This was a relatively slow week on Iceland's earthquake front. On average several hundreds earthquakes are detected every week in the country due to location over the ever moving divergent boundary between the Eurasian plate and the North American plate.
Langjökull is Iceland’s second largest ice cap covering 953 km2 (368 sq mi). The ice is up to 580 m (1,900 ft) thick. The highest point is called Baldjökull and is at the northern end of the glacier standing 1,450 m (4,760 ft) above sea level. Langjökull is Europe‘s second largest glacier south of the Arctic Circle.
Read more: A guide to Iceland’s glaciers, what to do there & their claim to fame
The SIL system
IMO’s automatic SIL monitoring network has been in operation for almost two decades. Besides evaluating source function and mechanism information carried from below by micro-earthquakes, it provides near real-time information that is used as the basis for an alert system.
An earthquake of magnitude 3.2 struck at Langjökull glacier in West Iceland this morning. According to the Icelandic Met Office (IMO) the quake's origin was in Geitlandsjökull, one of Langjökull´s outlet glaciers, which is located in Iceland's western rift zone, The quake hit at 9.47 this morning and was felt in the close by Borgarfjörður fjord. Earthquakes are common in this area.
IMO's South Iceland Lowland (SIL) monitoring system recorded about 200 earthquakes this week (30 November to 6 December). The largest earthquake was magnitude 3.3. and occurred at the northern rim of Bárðarbunga caldera, the huge sub-glacial volcano in Vatnajökull glacier. About 40 earthquakes were detected in the caldera during the week and about 15 in the dyke northeast of it.
This was a relatively slow week on Iceland's earthquake front. On average several hundreds earthquakes are detected every week in the country due to location over the ever moving divergent boundary between the Eurasian plate and the North American plate.
Langjökull is Iceland’s second largest ice cap covering 953 km2 (368 sq mi). The ice is up to 580 m (1,900 ft) thick. The highest point is called Baldjökull and is at the northern end of the glacier standing 1,450 m (4,760 ft) above sea level. Langjökull is Europe‘s second largest glacier south of the Arctic Circle.
Read more: A guide to Iceland’s glaciers, what to do there & their claim to fame
The SIL system
IMO’s automatic SIL monitoring network has been in operation for almost two decades. Besides evaluating source function and mechanism information carried from below by micro-earthquakes, it provides near real-time information that is used as the basis for an alert system.
