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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:
Thu, 25 Oct 2018, 15:56
Öraefajökull volcano (Iceland): continuing seismic unrest cause worries about potential reawakening
Earthquakes under Öræfajökull during the past 7 days
The volcano is continuing to show signs of unrest. Over the past months, elevated numbers of small earthquakes have continued to occur beneath the glacier-covered volcano, suggesting that fresh magma has been accumulating at shallow depth around 5 km. ... read all
Sat, 5 May 2018, 12:05
Oeraefajökull volcano (Iceland): alert level lowered back to normal (green)
On 4 May, the Icelandic Met Office reduced the Aviation Color Code at Öræfajökull from Yellow to Green due to signs of reduced activity. Since September 2017 there has been less earthquake activity, stable hydrological and geochemical measurements, and reduced geothermal heat output. There has been possible minor ongoing inflation, but no signs of an imminent eruption. ... read all

 

Öraefajökull volcano

Stratovolcano 2119 m (6,952 ft)
Iceland, 64°N / -16.65°W
Current status: normal or dormant (1 out of 5) | Reports
Öraefajökull volcano books | Tours
Last update: 1 Mar 2020 (seismic unrest)
Typical eruption style:

Explosive.


Öraefajökull volcano eruptions: 1362 (Plinian eruption), 1727-28 (sub-Plinian)
TimeMag. / DepthDistanceLocation
Thu, 22 Oct 2020 (UTC)
Thu, 22 Oct 17:04 UTCM 0.5 / 3 km1 km2.8 Km SE of Hvannadalshnjúkur, Iceland
Sat, 17 Oct 2020 (UTC)
Sat, 17 Oct 12:58 UTCM 0.4 / 0.1 km2 km0.5 Km NE of Hvannadalshnjúkur, Iceland
Sat, 17 Oct 04:00 UTCM 0.6 / 0.1 km14 km15.5 Km E of Hvannadalshnjúkur, Iceland
Wed, 14 Oct 2020 (UTC)
14 Oct 1:15 pm (GMT +0) (14 Oct 13:15:59 UTC)M 1.3 / 3.6 km26 km14.1 Km NNW of Skaftafell, Iceland
14 Oct 9:52 am (GMT +0) (14 Oct 09:52:36 UTC)M 0.5 / 6.6 km8 km9.7 Km S of Hvannadalshnjúkur, Iceland
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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