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Random pictures
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:
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 (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

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: 16 May 2018
Typical eruption style:

Explosive.


Öraefajökull volcano eruptions: 1362 (Plinian eruption), 1727-28 (sub-Plinian)
TimeMag. / DepthDistanceLocation
Tue, 16 Oct
Tue, 16 Oct 16:06 UTCM 0.4 / 1.1 km26 km10.7 km WNW of Skaftafell
Tue, 16 Oct 15:18 UTCM 0.4 / 1.4 km26 km10.2 km WNW of Skaftafell
Mon, 15 Oct
Mon, 15 Oct 17:02 UTCM 1.2 / 1.3 km35 km18.6 km W of Skaftafell
Mon, 15 Oct 07:33 UTCM 1.2 / 11 km1 km1.7 km SSE of Hvannadalshnjúkur
Mon, 15 Oct 07:33 UTCM 0.6 / 10.6 km1 km3.6 km S of Hvannadalshnjúkur
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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