A 5.2 magnitude earthquake rocked southern Iceland on Thursday near the Hekla volcano, with tremors felt in the capital Reykjavik some 110 kilometres (70 miles) away, the country's meteorological office said.

The epicentre of the quake, which occurred at 1:21 pm (1321 GMT), was located at Vatnafjoll, a mountain range located on a fissure zone near the larger Hekla volcano which is part of the same volcanic system.

"The earthquake was felt widely in southern Iceland and the capital area," the Icelandic Meteorological Office said in a statement.

No damage or injuries were reported in the sparsely populated area, police said.

Geophysicist Pall Einarsson told public television RUV that the quake and its many aftershocks were not caused by magma movements and were not a sign of an impending volcanic eruption.

At 1,491 metres (4,892 feet), Hekla is one of Iceland's most active volcanoes with its latest eruption dating back to 2000.

Thursday's quake was "most likely caused by plate motion and not volcanic deformation," Kristin Jonsdottir, IMO earthquake hazards coordinator, added on Twitter.

A 5.7 tremor shook southwestern Iceland at the end of February, just weeks before a volcano began erupting near Mount Fagradalsfjall on March 19, 2021.

After spewing lava for six months, the magma stopped flowing in mid-September but it is still too early to say whether the volcanic activity has officially ended, according to vulcanologists.

Iceland is Europe's biggest and most active volcanic region.

The vast North Atlantic island borders the Arctic Circle where it straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a crack on the ocean floor separating the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.

Related Links
Bringing Order To A World Of Disasters
When the Earth Quakes
A world of storm and tempest

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

The silent build-up to a super-eruption
Geneva, Switzerland (SPX) Nov 02, 2021
It is estimated that about 5-10 volcanoes worldwide are capable of producing a super-eruption that could catastrophically affect global climate. One of these volcanoes hides below the waters of Lake Toba in Sumatra and has caused two super-eruptions in the last one million year. But when will the next one be? Will there be any warning signs? To answer these questions, an international team of geologists led from the University of Geneva (UNIGE), Switzerland, and Peking University, China, developed ... read more