The earthquake that started in Bárðarbunga last night seems to be ending. Little activity has been observed in the area after half past four in the morning.
This is what Ingibjörg Andrea Bergþórsdóttir, a natural disaster expert at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, says in an interview with mbl.is.
An earthquake of magnitude 4.8 occurred in Bárðarbunga at 20.14 last night. Then hundreds of earthquakes were recorded in the area, eleven of which were larger than three.
After half past four in the morning, small earthquakes have been recorded in the area, most of them below 0.5 in magnitude.
Forward yellow zone
The Norwegian Meteorological Agency raised the flight color code for Bárðarbunga from green to yellow before one o’clock tonight.
Yellow color means, according to the Norwegian Meteorological Agency’s definition, that the volcano shows signs of activity, beyond normal conditions.
Bárðarbunga is still at yellow level, but a decision will be made later today if the flight color code will be moved back down to green.
The Norwegian Meteorological Agency’s map showing the flight color code of the country’s volcanoes was changed freely before one o’clock after midnight.
Map/Weather Office of Iceland
It is safe to say whether the hrina will pick up again
When asked, Ingibjörg says that it is considered that the crisis is passing.
“But having said that, it is not possible to say whether this will pick up again, time will tell,” she adds.
In an announcement from the Norwegian Meteorological Agency, the storm was the strongest since the last fires in Bárðarbunga between 2014 and 2015 and an eruption in Holuhrauni.
The fire station is considered the most powerful
The storm seems to be similar to another storm that occurred in the caldera in January last year, but it seems that now it is even more powerful.
At the time, that storm was considered the biggest that had happened in the volcano since the eve of the eruption in 2014.
The volcano system of Bárðarbunga last erupted in the summer of 2014. Scientists have since seen clear signs in recent years that it is preparing for another eruption.
The volcano is considered the most powerful in Iceland. In the past, the flood in Bárðarbunga has happened without an eruption.
