Vestmannaeyjar
Seismicity by period · derived statistics from Skjálftalísa (Icelandic Met Office)
Status (automatic)
No particular signs of unrest in the last 24 hours — 0 earthquakes recorded, within the system's normal range.🕰️ Last eruption / event — 53 years ago
The Heimaey eruption (Eldfell) (1973-01-23). A fissure opened without warning beside the town on the night of 23 January 1973; the five-month eruption built the cone Eldfell and forced the evacuation of the entire island.
Young volcanic system off the south coast (~10,000 years). Heimaey is built from its eruptions; Helgafell ~5,500 years old. Surtsey rose from the sea 1963–67 (UNESCO 2008). Eldfell erupted in 1973 — 5 months, a third of the town buried, 5,300 residents evacuated, 1 fatality. The seawater cooling operation that year (Þorbjörn Sigurgeirsson) saved the harbour and remains the only successful lava-flow control operation in history. (overview — more at vedur.is) · circle on the map = rough outline of the system (radius).
📜 Did you know?
The Heimaey eruption of 1973: Eldfell began on 23 January, lasted 5 months, destroyed a third of the town's buildings and forced the evacuation of 5,300 residents. One person died. The seawater cooling operation the same year — directed by physicist Þorbjörn Sigurgeirsson, who pumped seawater onto the lava front to save the harbour — is the only successful lava-flow control operation in history. Surtsey rose from the sea in 1963-67 and has been on the UNESCO World Heritage List since 2008 as a natural laboratory for colonisation biology.
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
0
Largest
–
M3,0+
0
Depth range
–
Earthquakes over time
Cumulative count · 0 earthquakes · count moment
Depth (0 km at top).
Not enough depth data.
Magnitude distribution
Earthquakes
0
Largest
–
M3,0+
0
Depth range
–
Earthquakes over time
Cumulative count · 0 earthquakes · count moment
Depth (0 km at top).
Not enough depth data.
Magnitude distribution
Earthquakes
1
Largest
M0.8
M3,0+
0
Depth range
5–5 km
Earthquakes over time
Cumulative count · 1 earthquakes · total moment ≈ M0.8 · count moment
Depth (0 km at top). Grey: fixed depth.
Not enough depth data.
Magnitude distribution
Earthquakes
1
Largest
M0.8
M3,0+
0
Depth range
5–5 km
Earthquakes over time
Cumulative count · 1 earthquakes · total moment ≈ M0.8 · count moment
Depth (0 km at top). Grey: fixed depth.
Not enough depth data.
Magnitude distribution
Earthquakes
15
Largest
M2.1
M3,0+
0
Depth range
5–14 km
Earthquakes over time
Cumulative count · 15 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
16
Largest
M2.1
M3,0+
0
Depth range
5–14 km
Earthquakes over time
Cumulative count · 16 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.
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.
Earthquakes in the system
| Time (UTC) | Mag | Depth | Area |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2026-06-03 11:32 | M0.8 | 5.3 | Önnur svæði |
| 2026-03-02 04:41 | M1.0 | 5.2 | Önnur svæði |
| 2026-02-21 22:00 | M0.9 | 5.2 | Önnur svæði |
| 2026-02-21 21:51 | M1.9 | 5.2 | Önnur svæði |
| 2026-02-21 21:21 | M1.7 | 5.2 | Önnur svæði |
| 2026-02-21 21:10 | M1.7 | 5.2 | Önnur svæði |
| 2026-02-21 21:04 | M1.3 | 5.2 | Önnur svæði |
| 2026-02-21 16:10 | M1.2 | 5.2 | Önnur svæði |
| 2026-02-20 17:19 | M0.9 | 5.2 | Önnur svæði |
| 2026-02-20 04:56 | M0.7 | 5.2 | Önnur svæði |
| 2025-11-01 14:02 | M1.1 | 5.2 | Önnur svæði |
| 2025-10-19 12:07 | M0.9 | 5.2 | Önnur svæði |
| 2025-08-31 11:58 | M0.7 | 6.1 | Önnur svæði |
| 2025-08-22 05:31 | – | 13.9 | Önnur svæði |
| 2025-06-18 12:29 | M2.1 | 5.2 | Önnur svæði |
| 2024-08-05 20:20 | M1.0 | 5.2 | Önnur svæði |
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).
Data: Icelandic Met Office (Skjálftalísa API), automatic preliminary results — may change. This is not an official warning. Official warnings: vedur.is and Civil Protection (112).