The Reykjanes peninsula in southwest Iceland suffered more than 5,500 minor earthquakes in the previous three days, signaling a seismic swarm and increasing the likelihood of a volcanic eruption, according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) today.
Iceland is a hotspot for earthquakes and volcanic eruptions because it is situated between two of the world’s major tectonic plates, the Eurasian and the North American, which are moving in different directions.
The head of the IMO service and research division, Matthew Roberts, informed Reuters that “these earthquakes are a warning sign, a part of a longer-term story that we know we’re entering a build-up phase to the next (volcanic) eruption.”
He also said, “The quakes originated at a depth of up to 5 km (around 3 miles) and were caused by a long-term accumulation of magma that has been building pressure and is now slowly.”