Seismic swarm in Askja this morning
The map shows the origins of the earthquake that measured 3.5 this morning. Map/map.is
A series of earthquakes have been observed in Askja this morning. The largest earthquake to date measured 3.5 in magnitude and hit at 10.40 am.
It originated in the Dyngjufjöll mountains in northwest Iceland.
This is also where most of the earthquakes that have been detected in the volcano today, since the seismic swarm began around 8 am this morning.
In September, Morgunblaðið reported that it appeared that the landmass that was previously measured continuously in Askja had changed slowly. This was determined by the measurements of two GPS stations of the Icelandic Meteorological Office above the volcano.
Still trying to figure this out
“The inflation has slowed down in these two areas. They’re fairly close to stopping, but not quite yet – they’re still up,” said the Met Office’s specialist, Benedikt Gunnar Ófeigsson, to the Morgunblaðið at the time.
Lake Askja in winter. mbl.is/Árni Sæberg
“But there is another area, which is in the middle of all this - near Ólafsgígar crater row, and it doesn’t show any changes. Likewise, there is no clear change at the station in Jónsskarð, which is also inside the caldera. At least not yet,” Ófeigsson said.
He said it was difficult to interpret these measurements. It was strange that so close stations showed equally different signals.
“We’re still trying to figure this out. Why the change is only seen in two stations, not all of them? It will take a while to see what this means and what’s going on there.”
