A powerful 3.3 magnitude earthquake was recoreded in the center of the Katla caldera Saturday afternoon. The powerful earthquake was part of an earthquake swarm which lasted 30 minutes, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office.
This latest powerful earthquake is just the lates of a wave of activity in the past couple of weeks. The last major quake took palce two days ago, on December 15. That 3.4 magnitude quake came on the heels of several powerful swarms which included quakes larger than 3 on the Richter scale.
Katla, which is hidden beneath Mýrdalsjökull glacier, competes with the giant volcano Bárðarbunga, located beneath Vatnajökull glacier for the title of Iceland's most powerful and dangerous volcano. It is one of Iceland's most active volcanoes, and while it is somewhat less powerful than Bárðarbunga, an eruption in Katla could pose greater threats to civilians, not least due to glacial flooding caused by a sub-glacial volcanic eruption, but also the challenges posed by the ash cloud generated by such an eruption.
A powerful 3.3 magnitude earthquake was recoreded in the center of the Katla caldera Saturday afternoon. The powerful earthquake was part of an earthquake swarm which lasted 30 minutes, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office.
This latest powerful earthquake is just the lates of a wave of activity in the past couple of weeks. The last major quake took palce two days ago, on December 15. That 3.4 magnitude quake came on the heels of several powerful swarms which included quakes larger than 3 on the Richter scale.
Katla, which is hidden beneath Mýrdalsjökull glacier, competes with the giant volcano Bárðarbunga, located beneath Vatnajökull glacier for the title of Iceland's most powerful and dangerous volcano. It is one of Iceland's most active volcanoes, and while it is somewhat less powerful than Bárðarbunga, an eruption in Katla could pose greater threats to civilians, not least due to glacial flooding caused by a sub-glacial volcanic eruption, but also the challenges posed by the ash cloud generated by such an eruption.
