Get our newsletter!
Check out our volcano tours on VolcanoAdventures.com!
Volcanoes & Earthquakes - new app for Android
Our New Book
Volcano Discoveries: "One of the most eye-catching guides to the world’s volcanoes ever published.
Volcano Travel
VolcanoAdventures: Our professional team of volcanologists and photographers offers unique travel opportunities: volcano expeditions, photo tours, and relaxed walking & study tours.
Volcano Adventure Guide
The Volcano Adventure Guide: Excellent information and background for anyone wishing to visit active volcanoes safely and enjoyably. The book presents guidelines to visiting 42 different volcanoes around the world.
Guaranteed tours:
14-29 Sep 2018: From Krakatau to Bali - Java (Indonesia)
26 Sep - 1 Oct 2018: Adventure Volcano - Yasur Volcano Travel - Tanna Island (Vanuatu)
26 Sep - 10 Oct 2018: Volcanoes and Cultures - Adventures in the South Sea - Vanuatu (South Sea)
30 Sep - 7 Oct 2018: Fascination Volcano - Santorini Island (Greece)
30 Sep - 10 Oct 2018: The Volcanoes of Ambrym - the Grand Traverse - Vanuatu (South Sea)
6-13 Oct 2018: Pearl of the Aegean - Santorini - Santorini Island, Greece
13-20 Oct 2018: Almonds, olives and volcanoes - Nisyros Island, Greece
13-29 Nov 2018: Volcano Special: Ibu - Dukono - Lokon - Halmahera (Indonesia)
17-30 Nov 2018: Desert, salt and volcanoes - Danakil desert (Ethiopia)
8-21 Dec 2018: Desert, salt and volcanoes - Danakil desert (Ethiopia)
: spaces available / : guaranteed / : few spaces left / : booked out
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: 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
Fri, 17 Aug
Fri, 17 Aug 11:46 UTCM 0.1 / 10.9 km4 km6.3 km SSE of Hvannadalshnjúkur
Fri, 17 Aug 03:24 UTCM 0.1 / 1.6 km2 km4.8 km SSE of Hvannadalshnjúkur
Fri, 17 Aug 00:55 UTCM 0.1 / 4.2 km2 km4.7 km SE of Hvannadalshnjúkur
Thu, 16 Aug
Thu, 16 Aug 23:32 UTCM 0.2 / 0.8 km3 km3.3 km ENE of Hvannadalshnjúkur
Thu, 16 Aug 23:14 UTCM 0.1 / 0.7 km3 km2.7 km ENE 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.

---
Source: GVP, Smithsonian Institution


Latest satellite images


 

More on VolcanoDiscovery:

Erta Ale eruption
Overflowing lava lake Jan 2017
Seismographs
Photos of seismographs
Nyamuragira
Nyamuragira volcano photos: Africa's version of Mauna Loa, Nyamuragira (or Nyamulagira) is a massive basaltic shield volcano neighboring Nyiragongo. It is one of the most active volcanoes in the world and has voluminous eruptions every few years.
Photo of the Day:
Friday 17 August 2018
Photo of the Day
View of Fuego from the east on 31 Dec 2015: the prominent ravine is one of the main channels of pyro...
View candidates or submit photos
Copyrights: VolcanoDiscovery and other sources as noted.
Use of material: Text and images on this webpage are copyrighted. Further reproduction and use without authorization is not consented. If you need licensing rights for photographs, for example for publications and commercial use, please contact us.