Earthquakes in Katla volcano not a sign of eruption

“There are no signs of Katla erupting,” says Sigríður Magnea Óskarsdóttir of the Iceland Met Office. A series of earthquakes occurred in Katla, one of Iceland’s infamous volcanoes, yesterday.

The biggest was measured at a magnitude of 3,6 on the Richter scale and they were over 10 in total, located in the east part of the volcano.

“There hasn’t been much going on since yesterday,” says Óskarsdóttir. She points out that earthquakes like this are not unusual this time of year. There are often earthquakes in Katla over the summer, though no one is sure what exactly the reason might be. One of the theories is it connected to the glacier on top of the volcano melting.

Earthquakes in Bárðarbunga today

Though Katla was quiet today there were earthquakes in Bárðarbunga volcano in Vatnajökull glacier. The biggest was 3,1 on the Richter scale.

Óskarsdóttir says the earthquakes in Katla and in Bárðarbunga are not connected, as the two volcanoes are far apart and don’t draw on the same source.