A strong earthquake still stands at Fagradalsfjall. The largest quake this morning was 4.9. Volcanologist Þorvaldur Þórðarson says the eruption is due to magma movements and the seismic activity is greatest under the eruption that was last active at Fagradalsfjall. He says it is difficult to predict what will happen next, but if there is an eruption, it can happen with little or no notice.
Accumulating in depth since last summer "This earthquake is actually under the Fagradalsfjall area. There are three seismic centers and one of them is directly below where the last active crater is, and these earthquakes all seem to be at a relatively great depth, they are all at a depth of about 6-7 kilometers. So I think it's very likely that this is related to some magma movement at that depth so there's some movement on the magma down there and maybe the result of the eruption has been accumulating in the depth down there in the last few months and now it's maybe resolving something out of the ordinary. Whether it will be something of that is another matter, "says Þorvaldur.
The pressure to increase The quake started around dinner time last night and has intensified since then. The largest earthquake of the morning was 4.9 magnitude at ten o'clock this morning. The quakes were felt well on the Reykjanes peninsula, in the capital area and east of Hella. The level of civil protection uncertainty was declared around ten o'clock. The level of uncertainty means that there is increased monitoring of scenarios that could lead to threats to the health and safety of people, the environment or settlements. Þorvaldur says that magma has most likely been in motion in the earth's crust since last winter. Probably at a considerable depth. "The deeper part of the dike has probably been running all the time and then it has been accumulating at a depth of maybe 6-7 kilometers and then pressure builds up and when the pressure is high enough for the magma to break up the rock above with that,
The activity is most directly under the eruption site He says it is difficult to predict the sequel as usual, this can die out before anything is seen on the surface but it can also start to erupt. But this cycle is similar to the one that began in March. "This is at the southern end of the intrusion that was this winter and covers the southern part of the area that was then underlying the earthquakes, so this seems to be more demarcated and seems to be more or less directly below the place where the eruptions opened, at the southern end of that corridor which people were talking about that had formed before the eruption in Geldingadalur.
"Obviously this is not over" Þorvaldur says that if an eruption occurs, it will most likely be similar in size to what began in March. Such eruptions seem to be the most common on the Reykjanes peninsula. "If we look at the long term, all the signs that are in the air are telling us that another eruption season has begun on the Reykjanes peninsula, so we can expect eruptions on the peninsula, whether they occur in Fagradalsfjall or elsewhere. Most likely at the moment is that if there is an eruption, it will be in a similar area as the eruption that came up by Fagradalsfjall, "says Þorvaldur. https://www.ruv.is/.../virkni-mest-beint-undir-gignum-sem...
Comments