Katla News

 

An earthquake swarm started under the glacier-covered Katla volcano this morning, including 3 quakes of magnitudes from 4.4-4.8 in an area 7-8 km east of the Goðabunga peak. So far, 29 tremors have been detected under the volcano's Myrdalsjokull glacier during the past 48 hours.

The quakes have been at shallow level and could be volcanic in origin, which is why the alert status of the volcano has been raised. It is possible that a volcanic eruption could begin without further warning although it is still considered rather unlikely at the current (still low) level of unrest.

Deformation shows a small inflation over the past days as well, which could also hint at magma intrusion under the surface.

From a statistical point of view, Katla, one of Iceland's most active volcanoes, is considered overdue for a new eruption. Over the past years, seismic swarms and episodes of uplift have occurred more frequently, showing that the volcano in fact is likely to "get ready", although it is still impossible to predict when the next eruption will occur. Some of these episodes were accompanied by increased melt water and sulfur gas release, which might even indicate that very small subglacial eruptions did occur without clearly being noted.

At any rate, scientists are now on elevated alert and having a close eye on their monitoring data.