List of earthquakes in Iceland

Map of notable earthquakes in Iceland since 1900 numbered from most recent.

Some notable earthquakes in Iceland have been during earthquake swarms with several earthquakes having very similar magnitude and contributing to human injury, death and/or property damage. Accordingly, the largest earthquake may be shown on this page rather than ones that also contributed to the notability. Notable earthquakes in Iceland tend to be close to population centres and therefore do not reflect the full distribution of the high local seismic activity. This distribution includes the transform faults in the South Iceland seismic zone (SISZ) and Tjörnes fracture zone, as well as activity in volcanic rift zones. ^[1]

Geology

See also: Geological deformation of Iceland

Outline of Iceland deformation and seismic zones

Iceland lies on the spreading axis of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge (MAR) where it is influenced by the Iceland hotspot, a major mantle upwelling. The active spreading axis of the MAR is moving westward with respect to the hotspot. This means that the active rifts above the hotspot have progressively jumped towards the east, causing the development of two major transform zones in the north and south of the island. To the south is the approximately 20 km (12 mi) wide SISZ, which is quite active for earthquakes, and this has a west–east trend. Most earthquakes in this zone are associated with movement on north–south trending right lateral strike-slip faults, although there is also evidence of WSW–ENE trending faults.

According to historical records, there have been 33 damaging earthquakes in the SISZ from the 11th century up to June 2000, with the latest being in 1896 and 1912. ^[2]

Notable earthquakes

Date	Location	Mag.	MMI	Deaths	Injuries	Comments	Ref.
2023-11-10	Southern Peninsula 63°57′07″N22°20′46″W / 63.952°N 22.346°W / 63.952; -22.346 (Mww 5.3 10 November 2023, depth = 10 km (6.2 mi))	5.3 Mww	V	1 missing		Severe damage to Grindavik with evacuations. Earthquake swarm commenced 24 October 2023	[3] [a]
2022-07-31	Southern Peninsula 63°57′18″N22°21′00″W / 63.955°N 22.350°W / 63.955; -22.350 (Mww 5.4 31 July 2022, depth = 10 km (6.2 mi))	5.4 Mww	VII			Moderate damage	[5] [6]
2021-02-24	Southern Peninsula 63°56′56″N22°17′06″W / 63.949°N 22.285°W / 63.949; -22.285 (Mww 5.6 24 February 2021, depth = 10 km (6.2 mi))	5.6 Mww	VII		1 mild injury	Mild damage	NGDC [7]
2008-05-29	Hveragerði, Selfoss 63°58′N20°59′W / 63.96°N 20.99°W / 63.96; -20.99 (Mw 6.3 29 May 2008, depth =10 km (6.2 mi))	6.3 Mw	VIII		30	Rockslides	[8]
2000-06-21	Hesfjall, Southern Peninsula 63°59′N20°43′W / 63.98°N 20.71°W / 63.98; -20.71 (ML 6.5 21 June 2000, depth = 6.3 km (3.9 mi))	6.5 ML	X			Severe damage	[9]
2000-06-17	Hella, Southern Peninsula 63°58′N20°22′W / 63.97°N 20.37°W / 63.97; -20.37 (ML 6.6 17 June 2000, depth = 5.1 km (3.2 mi))	6.6 ML	IX		3	Severe damage	[10]
1976-01-13	Kópasker 66°09′25″N16°34′55″W / 66.157°N 16.582°W / 66.157; -16.582 (Ms 6.6 13 January 1976, depth = 33 km (21 mi))	6.4 Ms	IX			Moderate damage	NGDC [11]
1968-12-05	Kleifarvatn, Southern Peninsula 63°55′44″N21°57′14″W / 63.929°N 21.954°W / 63.929; -21.954 (Ms 6.0 5 December 1968, depth = 10 km (6.2 mi))	6.0 Ms	VIII			Moderate damage in Hafnarfjörður	[12]
1934-06-02	Dalvíkurbyggð 65°50′49″N18°50′20″W / 65.847°N 18.839°W / 65.847; -18.839 (Ms 6.2 2 June 1934, depth = 10 km (6.2 mi))	6.2 Ms	VIII			Major damage, 200 people homeless	NGDC, [13] [14]
1929-07-23	Brennisteinsfjöll, Southern Peninsula 64°03′40″N21°54′04″W / 64.061°N 21.901°W / 64.061; -21.901 (Ms 6.5 23 July 1929 , depth = 10 km (6.2 mi))	6.5 Ms	IX		Around 100 minor	Moderate damage in Reykjavík	[15]
1912-05-06	Hekla, Southern Peninsula 64°02′38″N19°37′59″W / 64.044°N 19.633°W / 64.044; -19.633 (6 May 1912, depth = 15 km (9.3 mi))	7.5	XI	11			NGDC [16]
1896-09-05	Southern Peninsula	6.0, 6.5 and 6.0	IX	3		Three major earthquakes with short intervals. (Around 3.000 houses or farms destroyed)
1896-08-27	Skarðsfjall, Southern Peninsula	6.7	X	1			NGDC
1896-08-26	Rangárvallasýrsla ,Southern Peninsula	7.0	X			Major damage, many farms destroyed
1872	Húsavík, Norðurþing	6.5				Heavy damage	[13]
1784-08-14	Southern (Suðurland)		X			Severe damage	NGDC
1734	Southern lowland			9		Severe damage / Many homes destroyed	NGDC
1706-04-20	Selfoss		X	999		Severe damage	NGDC
1211	Southern (Suðurland)		X	18		Severe damage
1182	Southern (Suðurland)		X	11			NGDC
1164	Grímsnes		X	19			NGDC
1013	Southern (Suðurland)		X	11			NGDC
Note: The inclusion criteria for adding events are based on WikiProject Earthquakes' notability guideline that was developed for stand alone articles. The principles described also apply to lists. In summary, only damaging, injurious, or deadly events should be recorded. A compilation exists, [17] for details of Icelandic earthquakes up to 2014 as some have been without significant damage, even if high magnitude events.

See also

• Geology of Iceland
• Lists of earthquakes
• Icelandportal

Notes

1. The missing man is assumed to have fallen into a fissure that developed during the earthquake swarm ^[4]

References

1. Sigmundsson, Freysteinn; Einarsson, Páll; Hjartardóttir, Ásta Rut; Drouin, Vincent; Jónsdóttir, Kristín; Árnadóttir, Thóra; Geirsson, Halldór; Hreinsdóttir, Sigrún; Li, Siqi; Ófeigsson, Benedikt Gunnar (2020-02-01). "Geodynamics of Iceland and the signatures of plate spreading" . Journal of Volcanology and Geothermal Research. 391: 106436. doi:10.1016/j.jvolgeores.2018.08.014. ISSN   0377-0273.
2. Bergerat, F.; Angelier, J. (2003). "Mechanical behaviour of the Árnes and Hestfjall Faults of the June 2000 earthquakes in Southern Iceland: inferences from surface traces and tectonic model". Journal of Structural Geology. 25 (9): 1507–1523. Bibcode:2003JSG....25.1507B. doi:10.1016/S0191-8141(02)00168-2.
3. "M 5.3 – 3 km SSE of Vogar, Iceland". United States Geological Survey. 10 November 2023. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
4. Sigurðsson, Bjarki (13 January 2024). "Ekki hægt að réttlæta áframhaldandi leit" [It is not possible to justify continued searching]. Vísir.is (in Icelandic). Archived from the original on 13 January 2024. Retrieved 14 January 2024.
5. "M 5.4 – 1 km SE of Vogar, Iceland". United States Geological Survey. 31 July 2022. Retrieved 3 August 2022.
6. "Series of Earthquakes Detected Over Holiday Weekend Could Signal New Eruption". grapevine.is. 2 August 2022. Retrieved 4 August 2022.
7. "M 5.6 – 6 km SE of Vogar, Iceland". United States Geological Survey. 24 February 2021. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
8. ISC-EHB Event 13230288 [ IRIS ].
9. "M 6.5 Iceland 2000-06-21". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
10. "M 6.5 Iceland 2000-06-17". United States Geological Survey. Retrieved 2024-02-06.
11. "M 6.4 – 36 km ENE of Norðurþing, Iceland". United States Geological Survey. 13 January 1976. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
12. "M 6.0 – 15 km S of Hafnarfjörður, Iceland". United States Geological Survey. 5 December 1968. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
13. Einarsson & Beer 2014, p. 8.
14. "M 6.2 – 19 km SW of Dalvík, Iceland". United States Geological Survey. 2 June 1934. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
15. "M 6.3 – 1 km ESE of Hafnarfjörður, Iceland". United States Geological Survey. 23 July 1929. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
16. "M 6.8 – 67 km E of Selfoss, Iceland". United States Geological Survey. 6 May 1912. Retrieved 6 February 2024.
17. Einarsson & Beer 2014.

Sources

• NGDC (1972), Significant Earthquake Database (Data Set), National Geophysical Data Center, NOAA, doi:10.7289/V5TD9V7K, archived from the original on September 29, 2006

Further reading

• Sigbjörnsson, R.; Rupakhety, R. (2014). "A saga of the 1896 South Iceland earthquake sequence: magnitudes, macroseismic effects and damage". Bulletin of Earthquake Engineering. 12 (1): 171–184. Bibcode:2014BuEE...12..171S. doi:10.1007/s10518-013-9579-4. ISSN   1570-761X. S2CID   129370418.
• Einarsson, P.; Beer, M. (2014). "Mechanisms of earthquakes in Iceland". In Beer, M.; Patelli, E.; Kougioumtzoglou, I.A.; Au, S.K. (eds.). Encyclopedia of Earthquake Engineering. Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg. doi:10.1007/978-3-642-36197-5_298-1. ISBN   978-3-642-36197-5 . Retrieved 2 January 2024.

External links

• Earthquakes in Iceland magnitude 4 and greater, 1706–1990