Katla volcano earthquake activity continues

“It is unclear at the moment if this is going to result in a eruption but at the moment it is my view that chances of an eruption happening soon (maybe in matter of hours) is high.” – Volcanologist Jón Frímann
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21 June 2017 – The past few days have seen a swarm of tremors around Katla volcano, with some reaching up to 3.6 magnitude.

“Earthquake activity continues in Katla volcano,” writes Frímann.”It is unclear at the moment if this is going to result in a eruption but at the moment it is my view that chances of an eruption happening soon (maybe in matter of hours) is high.”

Katla is a large subglacial volcano located beneath the Mydalsjokull glacier in southern Iceland. It has been dormant for almost 100 years, but with twenty documented eruptions between 930 and 1918 at intervals of 13 – 95 years it is considered very active.

Earthquake activity in Katla volcano. Copyright of this image belongs to Icelandic Met Office.

Although Katla hasn’t erupted forcefully enough to break through the ice since 1918, its present dormancy is among the longest in known history. Because of that long period of dormancy, many think the current seismic activity is a sure sign of a pending eruption.

Such an eruption could prove to be significant.

Katla’s 1918 eruption, a major eruption, lasted almost a month and extended the southern coast by 5 km due to lava flow deposits.

The Icelandic Met Office, which is closely monitoring the volcano, ssures that there are no definite tell tale signs of a looming eruption.

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