Krafla
Seismicity by period · derived statistics from Skjálftalísa (Icelandic Met Office)
Status (automatic)
No particular signs of unrest in the last 24 hours — 2 earthquakes recorded, within the system's normal range. Volcano is in normal, non-eruptive state.
VONA = Volcano Observatory Notice for Aviation; the official Met Office colour code for aviation. Independent of Skjálfti's automatic analysis.
Depth — 3D and cross-section Krafla · last 90 days
Each dot is an earthquake, depth as the third dimension — Krafla, last 90 days. Drag the 3D view to rotate; point at a dot for details.
3D (rotatable) · depth ×2.5
Cross-section — distance along profile (km) vs depth (km)
Map (top view)
<24 klst2–7 dolderunconstrained depthsize ∝ magnitude (M)
⚠ Preliminary depths, unreliable (automatic Met Office solutions; depth often poorly constrained). events with unconstrained (default) depth shown as open rings — not real structure. For illustration, not analysis.
🕰️ Last eruption / event — 42 years ago
Last Krafla Fires eruption (1984-09-18). The Krafla Fires (1975-84) were 9 eruptions over 9 years with 8 m of rifting. GPS monitoring was first used for eruption forecasting here.
Central volcano in the Mývatn area (Northern Volcanic Zone), with a major geothermal field and power station. The Krafla Fires of 1975–1984 (nine eruptions). (overview — more at vedur.is) · circle on the map = rough outline of the system (radius).
📜 Did you know?
The Krafla Fires (1975-84) were nine eruptions over 9 years, with dike intrusions widening the rift by 8 m. This was the first case of continuous uplift monitoring correctly forecasting an eruption (GPS came later). Víti at Krafla got its name from the Mývatnseldar fires of 1724 — people thought the explosion crater was an entrance to hell.
Historical eruptions in the system — points colored by size, blue circle shows where we are now in time.
Points = earthquake locations in the selected window, coloured by magnitude: M3+ · M2+ · smaller (a sample if more than 800).
Earthquakes
2
Largest
M0.8
M3,0+
0
Depth range
0–7 km
Earthquakes over time
Cumulative count · 2 earthquakes · total moment ≈ M0.9 · count moment
Depth (0 km at top). Grey: fixed depth.
Not enough depth data.
Magnitude distribution
Earthquakes
6
Largest
M0.8
M3,0+
0
Depth range
0–11 km
Earthquakes over time
Cumulative count · 6 earthquakes · total moment ≈ M0.9 · count moment
Depth (0 km at top). Grey: fixed depth.
Magnitude distribution
Depth cross-sections — color by age (orange=newest, grey=older), point size by M. Rising cluster = possible magma intrusion.
Earthquakes
27
Largest
M0.9
M3,0+
0
Depth range
0–11 km
Earthquakes over time
Cumulative count · 27 earthquakes · total moment ≈ M1.2 · count moment
Depth (0 km at top). Grey: fixed depth.
Magnitude distribution
Depth cross-sections — color by age (orange=newest, grey=older), point size by M. Rising cluster = possible magma intrusion.
Earthquakes
76
Largest
M0.9
M3,0+
0
Depth range
0–13 km
Earthquakes over time
Cumulative count · 76 earthquakes · total moment ≈ M1.5 · count moment
Depth (0 km at top) — shallowing in the data (3.4→2.0 km). Grey: fixed depth.
Magnitude distribution
Depth cross-sections — color by age (orange=newest, grey=older), point size by M. Rising cluster = possible magma intrusion.
Earthquakes
169
Largest
M1.1
M3,0+
0
Depth range
0–14 km
Earthquakes over time
Cumulative count · 169 earthquakes · total moment ≈ M1.7 · count moment
Depth (0 km at top). Grey: fixed depth.
Magnitude distribution
Depth cross-sections — color by age (orange=newest, grey=older), point size by M. Rising cluster = possible magma intrusion.
Earthquakes
376
Largest
M1.7
M3,0+
0
Depth range
0–14 km
Earthquakes over time
Cumulative count · 376 earthquakes · total moment ≈ M2.1 · count moment
Depth (0 km at top). Grey: fixed depth.
Magnitude distribution
Depth cross-sections — color by age (orange=newest, grey=older), point size by M. Rising cluster = possible magma intrusion.
Earthquakes
552
Largest
M1.7
M3,0+
0
Depth range
0–14 km
Earthquakes over time
Cumulative count · 552 earthquakes · total moment ≈ M2.2 · count moment
Depth (0 km at top). Grey: fixed depth.
Magnitude distribution
Depth cross-sections — color by age (orange=newest, grey=older), point size by M. Rising cluster = possible magma intrusion.
Note: before February 2026 about half of events lacked an automatic magnitude, so magnitude-dependent figures (b-value, count of M≥X) under-count earlier periods — the catalogue is not homogeneous across this window. Cumulative moment is barely affected.
Earthquakes
761
Largest
M1.7
M3,0+
0
Depth range
0–15 km
Earthquakes over time
Cumulative count · 761 earthquakes · total moment ≈ M2.3 · count moment
Depth (0 km at top). Grey: fixed depth.
Magnitude distribution
Depth cross-sections — color by age (orange=newest, grey=older), point size by M. Rising cluster = possible magma intrusion.
Note: before February 2026 about half of events lacked an automatic magnitude, so magnitude-dependent figures (b-value, count of M≥X) under-count earlier periods — the catalogue is not homogeneous across this window. Cumulative moment is barely affected.
Earthquakes
1.602
Largest
M2.5
M3.0+
0
Days with data
883
This is a reduced view: it is built from the daily aggregate (counts, moment, magnitude bands, depth histogram) rather than individual events. Map points, the depth scatter, cross-sections and the migration fit are therefore missing — they need each event's location and depth. Counts, total moment and the b-value are exact, not approximated.
Earthquakes over time
Cumulative count and moment
Total moment of all events in the window equals a single Mw 3.0
Magnitude distribution
<11162
1–2132
2–36
3–40
≥40
Note: before February 2026 about half of events lacked an automatic magnitude, so magnitude-dependent figures (b-value, count of M≥X) under-count earlier periods — the catalogue is not homogeneous across this window. Cumulative moment is barely affected.
Earthquakes
2.905
Largest
M2.9
M3.0+
0
Days with data
1.729
This is a reduced view: it is built from the daily aggregate (counts, moment, magnitude bands, depth histogram) rather than individual events. Map points, the depth scatter, cross-sections and the migration fit are therefore missing — they need each event's location and depth. Counts, total moment and the b-value are exact, not approximated.
Earthquakes over time
Cumulative count and moment
Total moment of all events in the window equals a single Mw 3.4
Magnitude distribution
<12248
1–2340
2–314
3–40
≥40
Note: before February 2026 about half of events lacked an automatic magnitude, so magnitude-dependent figures (b-value, count of M≥X) under-count earlier periods — the catalogue is not homogeneous across this window. Cumulative moment is barely affected.
Earthquakes
4.733
Largest
M4.3
M3.0+
5
Days with data
2.924
This is a reduced view: it is built from the daily aggregate (counts, moment, magnitude bands, depth histogram) rather than individual events. Map points, the depth scatter, cross-sections and the migration fit are therefore missing — they need each event's location and depth. Counts, total moment and the b-value are exact, not approximated.
Earthquakes over time
Cumulative count and moment
Total moment of all events in the window equals a single Mw 4.4
Magnitude distribution
<13568
1–2814
2–340
3–44
≥41
Gutenberg-Richter b ≈ 1.19 ± 0.12 (i.e. likely 1.06–1.31, M≥1.7, n=123)
Note: before February 2026 about half of events lacked an automatic magnitude, so magnitude-dependent figures (b-value, count of M≥X) under-count earlier periods — the catalogue is not homogeneous across this window. Cumulative moment is barely affected.
Earthquakes
5.511
Largest
M4.3
M3.0+
10
Days with data
3.421
This is a reduced view: it is built from the daily aggregate (counts, moment, magnitude bands, depth histogram) rather than individual events. Map points, the depth scatter, cross-sections and the migration fit are therefore missing — they need each event's location and depth. Counts, total moment and the b-value are exact, not approximated.
Earthquakes over time
Cumulative count and moment
Total moment of all events in the window equals a single Mw 4.5
Magnitude distribution
<13898
1–21189
2–3108
3–48
≥42
Gutenberg-Richter b ≈ 1.12 ± 0.07 (i.e. likely 1.05–1.19, M≥1.7, n=268)
Note: before February 2026 about half of events lacked an automatic magnitude, so magnitude-dependent figures (b-value, count of M≥X) under-count earlier periods — the catalogue is not homogeneous across this window. Cumulative moment is barely affected.
Depth is automatic and uncertain; earthquakes alone do not show magma movement — deformation (GPS) and gas are needed. Grey points: automatic fixed-depth values. b-value computed for M≥1.5 (automatic magnitudes make lower completeness unreliable). Preliminary data.
🌊 Volcanic tremor — The baseline volcanic tremor is currently elevated and should only be compared against re…
IMO tremor plot (station ren). Most of the signal is weather and surf — not eruption confirmation. All stations: vedur.is ↗.
The baseline volcanic tremor is currently elevated and should only be compared against recent days since wind and waves do not reliably correlate with this station's readings. (AI)
Band analysis past 9 days (from digitized RSAM values). High 2-4 Hz + low 0.5-1 Hz = possible magma-movement signal; high 0.5-1 Hz without 2-4 Hz = weather/surf.
Earthquakes in the system
| Time (UTC) | Mag | Depth (km) | Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-09-11 06:16 | M0.4 | 0.0 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-11 02:55 | M0.8 | 6.6 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-09 23:59 | M-1.4 | 0.0 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-09 20:35 | M-0.3 | 0.0 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-09 19:39 | M0.0 | 1.4 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-09 19:39 | M-0.4 | 11.4 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-09 18:07 | M-0.3 | 0.1 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-09 14:23 | M-0.0 | 5.9 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-09 11:45 | M-0.1 | 0.0 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-09 06:57 | M0.1 | 5.3 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-08 20:25 | M-0.1 | 5.5 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-08 09:41 | M-0.5 | 0.2 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-08 09:35 | M-0.2 | 1.8 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-08 09:25 | M0.9 | 2.9 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-08 08:57 | M-0.6 | 0.0 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-08 02:40 | M-0.4 | 0.6 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-07 15:30 | M-0.2 | 1.1 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-07 10:31 | M0.4 | 3.7 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-06 23:46 | M-0.3 | 0.8 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-06 18:48 | M0.3 | 3.7 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-06 17:28 | M-0.4 | 3.7 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-06 10:47 | M-0.5 | 2.1 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-06 00:53 | M-0.4 | 4.3 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-05 15:51 | M-0.1 | 8.5 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-05 11:35 | M-1.1 | 0.0 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-05 10:34 | M-0.4 | 0.3 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-05 01:06 | M-0.4 | 0.6 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-03 23:03 | M-1.0 | 7.1 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-03 00:19 | M0.4 | 0.8 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-02 21:21 | M-0.2 | 4.0 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-02 21:21 | M-0.0 | 1.9 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-02 09:42 | M-0.5 | 3.1 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-02 07:48 | M-0.4 | 2.9 | Other areas |
| 2026-09-01 05:23 | M-0.4 | 11.2 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-31 11:27 | M-0.4 | 5.1 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-30 22:04 | M-0.3 | 2.7 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-30 20:22 | M-0.5 | 0.4 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-30 16:00 | M-0.9 | 0.9 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-29 23:48 | M-0.2 | 0.3 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-29 20:34 | M-0.3 | 4.4 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-29 18:04 | M-0.5 | 0.0 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-29 12:08 | M-0.4 | 1.6 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-29 02:26 | M0.7 | 3.4 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-28 00:29 | M-0.5 | 0.4 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-27 20:36 | M-0.3 | 0.0 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-26 05:18 | M-0.0 | 3.8 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-26 05:17 | M-0.5 | 0.9 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-25 22:22 | M-0.3 | 5.5 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-25 07:12 | M0.2 | 4.8 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-24 19:21 | M0.2 | 6.8 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-24 03:09 | M-0.5 | 0.4 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-24 02:41 | M-0.9 | 4.6 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-24 01:25 | M0.0 | 1.1 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-23 16:19 | M-0.1 | 1.4 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-23 08:27 | M0.6 | 3.7 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-23 08:26 | M-0.3 | 3.9 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-22 07:16 | M-0.1 | 3.4 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-21 14:42 | M0.9 | 3.6 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-21 13:04 | M-0.3 | 0.0 | Other areas |
| 2026-08-21 11:05 | M-0.5 | 2.3 | Other areas |
System journal
Automatic snapshots and media coverage, in chronological order. Subscribe: RSS · ntfy
skjalftar-krafla2026-08-09 06:30:07 UTC
Over the last 24 hours, 3 earthquakes were detected in Krafla, a central volcano in the Mývatn area, with seismic activity remaining similar to the past week and within what is considered normal for this area. This represents scattered background activity rather than earthquake swarms, with the largest earthquake in the last 48 hours measuring magnitude 0.7 and the cumulative magnitude in the area reaching 0.8. This activity most closely resembles the period around June 15, 2026, when 17 earthquakes were recorded, though it should be noted that these are automatic preliminary results where depth is unreliable. Maps and further details on the development are available below on the page.2026-06-14 15:25:02 UTC
In the last 24 hours, three earthquakes were recorded at Krafla, a central volcano in the Mývatn region, with activity similar to the past week but slightly higher than usual for this area. The increase is due to distributed background activity rather than swarms, and the largest event was M0.7 with a cumulative magnitude of Mw 0.8. Activity most closely resembles the period around September 5, 2025, though results are automatic preliminary results. Further details on trends and maps are available below.2026-06-06 20:10:06 UTC
In the last 24 hours, five earthquakes were recorded at Krafla, representing an increase compared to the weekly average and indicating higher activity than usual for this area. The activity is characterized by distributed background seismicity rather than swarms and most closely resembles the period around September 12, 2025. The largest earthquake was M1.9 with a cumulative magnitude of Mw 1.9 over the past 48 hours, and these figures are automatic preliminary results. Further details on trends and land uplift can be found lower on the page.2026-06-06 11:00:07 UTC
In the last 24 hours, four earthquakes were recorded in the Krafla volcanic system, a central volcano in the Mývatn region, with activity similar to the past week. This scattered background activity is within normal levels for the area and most closely resembles the period around September 12, 2025. The largest earthquake was magnitude M1.9 with a cumulative moment of Mw 1.9, though results are automatic preliminary estimates. Further details on trends and maps can be found below.What do the numbers mean — and what should I do?
β (swarm signal): how high activity is versus the area's 2-year average. β above 2 means an ongoing swarm. It measures activity, not a forecast of a large quake.
Cumulative moment (Mw): the combined energy of the quakes in the period. Uplift (GNSS): whether the ground is rising or sinking, mm per year — the data are a few weeks old. Some systems (e.g. Svartsengi) deform in steps during eruption cycles rather than at a steady annual rate.
Swarm character is computed for a whole volcanic belt, not a single system — it describes the belt, not necessarily this one system.
What should I do? This is automatic monitoring for information — not an official warning. Follow official information from the Icelandic Met Office and Civil Protection (112).