A total of 40 earthquakes were recorded in Bárðarbunga volcano in Vatnajökull glacier since midnight, all of which were within magnitude 2.0. However, yesterday evening, considerably stronger earthquakes hit, of magnitude 4.8 at 8:20 pm and of magnitude 5.4 at 9:34 pm.
Yesterday a month had passed since increased seismic activity was first picked up in Bárðarbunga and an alert phase was declared by the Civil Protection Department. At least 20,000 earthquakes have been recorded in the area since them, of which 186 were between magnitude 3.0 and 4.0, ruv.is reports.
The strongest earthquake to have hit the area in the past month occurred on August 26. It measured magnitude 5.7 and is the strongest earthquake to have been recorded in Iceland since the big South Iceland quake in 2008.
The fissure eruption in Holuhraun, north of Vatnajökull continues. The Icelandic Met Office’s latest sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollution warning states: “Until daybreak winds will be northeasterly with the polluted area to the southwest, marked by Hofsjökull glacier in the west and Tungnárjökull glacier in the east.”
