An earthquake measuring 3.7 on the Richter scale hit the eastern Eyjafjallajökull glacier near the crater on the Fimmvörduháls mountain pass at 3:32 pm today.
Photo by Bjarni Brynjólfsson.
Geophysicist Einar Kjartansson at the Icelandic Meteorological Office told ruv.is that the earthquake is not a sign that the larger and more dangerous volcano Katla, which hides underneath the Mýrdalsjökull icecap, is about to erupt.
Kjartansson explained that the epicenter of the earthquake is in the area where most of the earthquakes that are related to the current eruption have occurred.
Most of these earthquakes have occurred at a depth of ten kilometers but this one is shallower—its source is at a depth of no more than three kilometers.
The earthquake hit where geophysicists assume the eruption channel lies and it may have been triggered by the heat from the eruption.
The earthquake could easily be sensed in Hvolsvöllur and in the Fljótshlíd countryside.
In other eruption news, one of the missing tourists who went to see the eruption on Sunday has been found. The woman was cold and exhausted but no other information has been released. Search continues for her two traveling companions.
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