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17,000 earthquakes hit Iceland in the past week. An eruption could be imminent

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clapclapclap 9000

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https://www.cnn.com/2021/03/03/world/iceland-volcano-eruption-keilir-intl-latam/index.html

Spoiler

Even for a volcanic island accustomed to the occasional tremor, this has been an unusual week for Iceland. According to the Icelandic Meteorological Office, around 17,000 earthquakes have hit the southwestern region of Reykjanes over the past week.

The largest quake, a magnitude 5.6 on the Richter scale, occurred on the morning of February 24. It was the loudest in a swarm that continues to rattle residents in the nearby capital city of Reykjavík and the municipalities around it, where two-thirds of the Icelandic population lives. Two larger earthquakes -- over magnitude 5.0 -- also hit on February 27 and March 1.

The quakes have caused little damage so far, though Iceland's Road and Coastal Administration has reported small cracks in roads in the area and rockfalls on steep slopes near the epicenter of the swarm.

"I have experienced earthquakes before but never so many in a row," Reykjavik resident Auður Alfa Ólafsdóttir told CNN. "It is very unusual to feel the Earth shake 24 hours a day for a whole week. It makes you feel very small and powerless against nature."

In the fishing town of Grindavík, locals have had a front-row seat to the tremors. "I've not experienced anything like this before," says Páll Valur Björnsson, who teaches at the local College of Fisheries and sits as a deputy member of Parliament.

"We are used to it; it started one year ago. But it is much more now -- very unsettling. I'm not afraid but this is uncomfortable. I woke up twice last night because of [tremors]. There was a very big one when I went to sleep, and I woke up with one. It is difficult but you have to learn to live with it," he said.

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'Well, this is Iceland': Earthquake interrupts Prime Minister's interview

Iceland sits on a tectonic plate boundary that continually splits apart, pushing North America and Eurasia away from each other along the line of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Most seismic activity here is only picked up by sensitive scientific equipment. Occasional stronger tremors are an inevitable part of living in an active seismic region.

Only this time, there seems to be no end to the rumble under the ground.

Þorvaldur Þórðarson, a professor of volcanology at the University of Iceland, said concerns over the recent activity are understandable. "Of course it worries people. For this region, this is actually fairly unusual, not because of the type of earthquakes or their intensity, but for their duration. It's been going for more than a week now."

"We are battling with the 'why' at the moment. Why is this happening? It is very likely that we have an intrusion of magma into the [Earth's] crust there. It has definitely moved closer to the surface, but we are trying to figure out if it's moving even closer to it," he said. With multiple volcanoes in the area, local officials have warned that an eruption could be imminent.  "Will there be an eruption?  You really got me now." (snip)

 

 

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bolverk

bolverk 30236

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2 hours ago, Nonbryan said:

Is Iceland on the bunghole, I mean ring, of fire?

No, but New Zealand is, and they had an 8.1 today.

After third large quake near New Zealand, tsunami warnings span from South Pacific to Central America
Tsunami watch in Hawaii where first waves could arrive around 4:35 p.m. local time
image.png.491be03285e0025d7afc9d2770bfaf38.png

March 4, 2021 at 4:22 p.m. CST
A major magnitude 8.1 earthquake struck roughly 600 miles northeast of New Zealand on Thursday afternoon, triggering concerns of a potentially damaging tsunami across large portions of the Pacific.

The risk spanned from New Zealand and Australia to as far east as Central and South America.

The 8.1 tremor was the third major earthquake in less than eight hours on the Kermadec Fault, which passes east of New Zealand. A magnitude 7.3 hit near New Zealand early on Thursday, followed by a 7.4 about 560 miles to the north a few hours later.

American Samoa, the Cook Islands, Fiji, New Zealand and the Pitcairn Islands can expect water levels fluctuating by up to three feet.

Tsunami alerts were issued along the western coasts of South America and Central America, where tsunami waves of one to three feet are possible. That includes Chile, Mexico, Peru, Costa Rica, and a number of other countries.

The National Tsunami Warning Center tweeted that it was reviewing data to assess potential risk in places like California, Oregon, Washington, British Columbia and Alaska.

Spoiler

 

New Zealand predictions
A tsunami warning is in effect for New Zealand. The country’s National Emergency Management Agency tweeted “TSUNAMI WARNING issued following Kermadecs earthquake.”

“People near coast from the BAY OF ISLANDS to WHANGAREI, from MATATA to TOLAGA BAY, and GREAT BARRIER ISLAND must MOVE IMMEDIATELY to nearest high ground, out of all tsunami evacuation zones, or as far inland as possible,” they wrote.

Officials in New Zealand urged residents “walk, run or cycle” to higher ground to avoid the chance of becoming stuck in traffic.

The first damaging tsunami waves could arrive around 9:49 a.m. Friday local time in areas around Lottin Point, the easternmost point on New Zealand’s northern island.

Hawaii and Guam predictions
A tsunami watch was issued by the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center for Hawaii. First impacts could occur beginning at 4:35 p.m. Hawaii Standard Time, leaving several hours to prepare. Tsunamis travel at roughly the pace of a passenger jet.

“Based on all available data, a tsunami may have been generated by this earthquake that could be destructive on coastal areas even far from the epicenter,” the center wrote.

It was initially unclear what threat exists in Guam, Micronesia and the Northern Mariana Islands.

Context for earthquakes and the tsunami threat
It is extremely unusual for three severe earthquakes to occur within a 300 mile radius of a point in less than eight hours.

The first two earthquakes occurred far enough apart that they likely were not related. It is probable that the second quake was a foreshock to the third, the stress it released triggering another larger slip nearby. A quake is a foreshock to a larger event less than 5 percent of the time.

The first quake, nearest to New Zealand, released some of its stress horizontally, rather than being a fully “thrust” quake. That minimized the initial tsunami threat. The second quake, much farther north, was a shallow thrust quake, meaning part of one tectonic plate — the Pacific Plate — slid beneath the other, or the Indo-Australian Plate. That’s a recipe for a tsunami, but a serious one did not occur.

The third quake, a severe magnitude 8.1, also appears to have been a thrust quake, and is much stronger. That appeared to boost the odds of a damaging tsunami.

Fortunately, there were emerging indications that the greatest slip, or release of stress, may have occurred deeper in the earth’s crust than where the slip initially began closer to the sea floor. That decreases the risk of a damaging tsunami. Initial estimates suggest that a slip of up to 30 feet occurred.

New Zealanders were forced to rush to high ground twice within six hours.

A magnitude 8.1 quake releases about 30 times more energy than a magnitude 7.0 quake. It’s the strongest quake to strike worldwide since May 26, 2019, when a magnitude 8.0 hit Peru.

Already, several aftershocks of magnitude 5 or greater had followed the main earthquake sequence, with a 6.5 quake also observed. Aftershocks should not get too much stronger than that; seismologists use Båth’s Law, which posits that the largest aftershock should be about 1.1 to 1.2 in magnitude less intense than main quake.

 

 

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clapclapclap

clapclapclap 9000

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3 hours ago, XYZ said:

Exactly 17,000?

Probably so, at the time of the count.  And though the quakes were rather small, they had to count them all.  Now they know how many quakes it takes to fill the Albert Hall.

Edited by clapclapclap
And that's as far as I'll go with that
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