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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): continuing seismic unrest cause worries about potential reawakening
Earthquakes under Öræfajökull during the past 7 days
Thursday, Oct 25, 2018
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. ... [more]
Oeraefajökull volcano (Iceland): alert level lowered back to normal (green)
Saturday, May 05, 2018
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. [more]

 

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, 18 Jun 2020
Thu, 18 Jun 10:45 UTCM 0.52 km3.9 km SE of Hvannadalshnjúkur (Iceland)
Tue, 16 Jun 2020
Tue, 16 Jun 02:25 UTCM 0.3 / 7.5 km3 km4.9 km ESE of Hvannadalshnjúkur (Iceland)
Tue, 16 Jun 01:08 UTCM 0.4 / 1.4 km1 km3.2 km SE of Hvannadalshnjúkur (Iceland)
Mon, 15 Jun 2020
Mon, 15 Jun 19:19 UTCM 0.1 / 2.6 km5 km7.3 km SE 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


Latest satellite images


See also: Sentinel hub | Landsat 8
 

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