The earthquake swarm at Grímsey island on the north coast of Iceland which began on Wednesday last week has continued over the weekend. The Icelandic Meteorological Office has detected a total of 1.500 quakes have been recorded over the past 48 hours, including 64 quakes larger than 3 on the Richter scale. Of those 8 quakes were larger than 4. The largest quake recorded in the swarm was a 5.2 magnitude quake early morning. The earthquake swarm is highly unusual, both in terms of its intensity and length.
Read more: What's going on in Grímsey? Intense earthquake swarm likely a harbinger of something bigger
The swarm appears to have changed character and now includes far more powerful quakes. The swarm originated in the submarine Tjörnes fracture zone which is created by the movement of the continental plates in opposite directions. It is still too early to say whether the quakes are a harbinger of anything bigger, an volcanic eruption or a massive earthquake.
On Sunday it appeared the swarm was slowing down, but it then picked up steam early Sunday evening. Half a dozen 3+ earthquakes were detected on Sunday evening beginning at 18:11 (6:11 pm). A second wave of more powerful quakes hit around midnight. This wave continued uninterrupted and is still ongoing. This latest episode in the swarm has included dozens of large quakes, including 8 powerful 4+ magnitude quakes.
The largest earthquake was a 5.2 magnitude earthquake at 5:38 am.
The seismic activity has been concentrated in a submarine rift valley northeast of Grímsey island. However, the swarm has been showing signs of spreading, as the activity over the weekend has been spread out over a larger area than last week's quakes.
We at Iceland Insider will continue to monitor the developments closely.
The earthquake swarm at Grímsey island on the north coast of Iceland which began on Wednesday last week has continued over the weekend. The Icelandic Meteorological Office has detected a total of 1.500 quakes have been recorded over the past 48 hours, including 64 quakes larger than 3 on the Richter scale. Of those 8 quakes were larger than 4. The largest quake recorded in the swarm was a 5.2 magnitude quake early morning. The earthquake swarm is highly unusual, both in terms of its intensity and length.
Read more: What's going on in Grímsey? Intense earthquake swarm likely a harbinger of something bigger
The swarm appears to have changed character and now includes far more powerful quakes. The swarm originated in the submarine Tjörnes fracture zone which is created by the movement of the continental plates in opposite directions. It is still too early to say whether the quakes are a harbinger of anything bigger, an volcanic eruption or a massive earthquake.
On Sunday it appeared the swarm was slowing down, but it then picked up steam early Sunday evening. Half a dozen 3+ earthquakes were detected on Sunday evening beginning at 18:11 (6:11 pm). A second wave of more powerful quakes hit around midnight. This wave continued uninterrupted and is still ongoing. This latest episode in the swarm has included dozens of large quakes, including 8 powerful 4+ magnitude quakes.
The largest earthquake was a 5.2 magnitude earthquake at 5:38 am.
The seismic activity has been concentrated in a submarine rift valley northeast of Grímsey island. However, the swarm has been showing signs of spreading, as the activity over the weekend has been spread out over a larger area than last week's quakes.
We at Iceland Insider will continue to monitor the developments closely.
