Four large earthquakes occurred in the Bárðarbunga volcanic system last night, the largest earthquakes since the 2014-2015 volcanic eruption.
The first earthquake of magnitude 3.9 on the richter scale occured at 23:02 last night, followed by a 3.2 earthquake at 23:03. The third quake hit the volcano at 23:26 and measured 4.7. The fourth earthquake of magnitude 4.7 occured 16 minutes past midnight.
An earthquake measuring 4.1 took place in the volano earlier this week and several earthquakes hit the volcano in September.
Bárðarbunga is the largest and most powerful volcano in Iceland. It is located under the northern part of the Vatnajökull glacier in South Iceland, Europe’s largest glacier. The Bárðarbunga volcanic system is approximately 200 km (120 miles) long.
Earthquakes of magnitude 4.7 are the largest quakes that have occured in the Bárðarbunga caldera since the 2014 eruption. The Holuhraun eruption began on August 31st 2014 and lasted until February 28, 2015. It is the largest eruption in Iceland since 1783 and produced a massive lava field of more than 85 km2 (33 square miles) in the middle of the island.
