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Öraefajökull's glacier-covered caldera seen from the air (photo: (c)Tom Pfeiffer)
Öraefajökull's glacier-covered caldera seen from the air (photo: (c)Tom Pfeiffer)
Latest news:
Öraefajökull volcano (Iceland): magnitude 3.4 earthquake
Friday, Feb 09, 2018
Light seismic unrest continues at the volcano. This morning, a shallow magnitude 3.4 earthquake occurred this morning 3.2 km SE of Hvannadalshnjúkur under the volcano's caldera. ... [more]
Öraefajökull volcano (Iceland): seismic activity still elevated
Location of yesterday's 3.1 earthquake under Öraefajökull volcano
Friday, Jan 19, 2018
A magnitude 3.1 earthquake occurred yesterday under the northern caldera of the volcano. Its very shallow depth (given as 100 m) suggests that it is most likely caused by adjustments of the glacier and not by a magma intrusion. ... [more]

 

Öraefajökull volcano

Stratovolcano 2119 m (6,952 ft)
Iceland, 64°N / -16.65°W
Current status: restless (2 out of 5)
Öraefajökull webcams / live data | Reports
Öraefajökull volcano books | Tours
Last update: 9 Feb 2018
Typical eruption style:

Explosive.


Öraefajökull volcano eruptions: 1362 (Plinian eruption), 1727-28 (sub-Plinian)
TimeMag. / DepthDistanceLocation
Thu, 26 Apr
Thu, 26 Apr 19:33 UTCM 0.9 / 1 km1 km1.2 km SSE of Hvannadalshnjúkur
Thu, 26 Apr 15:31 UTCM 0.4 / 1.1 km1 km3.3 km SE of Hvannadalshnjúkur
Thu, 26 Apr 15:27 UTCM 0.1 / 0.1 km4 km6.1 km ESE of Hvannadalshnjúkur
Thu, 26 Apr 11:53 UTCM 0.5 / 3 km17 km12.3 km NNE of Skaftafell
Thu, 26 Apr 11:01 UTCM 0.8 / 9 km20 km4.9 km NNW of Skaftafell
View all recent quakes
Öraefajökull, Iceland's highest peak, is probably Iceland's most violent volcano. A major silicic eruption in 1362 was Iceland's largest historical explosive eruption. It and another eruption during 1727-28 were accompanied by major jökulhlaups (glacier outburst floods) that caused property damage and fatalities.

Background:

Öraefajökull is a broad glacier-clad central volcano at the SE end of the Vatnajökull icecap. A 4 x 5 km subglacial caldera truncates the summit of the basaltic and rhyolitic volcano. The largest-volume volcano in Iceland, 2119-m-high Öraefajökull was mostly constructed during the Pleistocene. Holocene activity has been dominated by explosive summit eruptions, although flank lava effusions have also occurred.

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Source: GVP, Smithsonian Institution


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