Iceland Rocked By 5.7 Quake

Iceland earthquake: Reykjavik rocked as major 5.7 quake strikes

EMILY FERGUSON

The earthquake hit Iceland's capital at about 2.10pm GMT. An initial measurement by the German Research Center for Geosciences, GEOFON, said the quake that hit the Atlantic island was of magnitude 5.7, but that number was later revised to 5.5.

Quake Reports said: "Mww 5.6 earthquake (reviewed) occured at 2020-10-20T13:43:17 UTC, 11 km SSW of Álftanes, Iceland."

People took to social media to document the quake.

One person tweeted: "A strong earthquake just struck Reykjavik. First estimates say it was 5.7. No news of damage but the earthquake was felt widely."

They wrote: "Just witnessed an earthquake in Reykjavik, Iceland. We are still waiting for information from the authorities. This video is after the shaking."

The earthquake could be felt in Iceland’s National Parliament today.

A video from Parliament shows the building shake as Helgi Hrafn Gunnarsson, MP for the Pirate Party, rushes to find a safe place and sit down.

In the video, noise can be heard and the curtains behind Steingrímur J. Sigfússon, the Speaker of the Althingi, begin to move.

Steingrímur remains calm and simply says: “Just sit calmly, sit calmly.”

Iceland's capital Reykjavik is rattled by powerful 5.6-magnitude earthquake a week after increased seismic activity was recorded at volcano that erupted in 2011 cancelling hundreds of flights

Iceland's capital Reykjavik has been rattled by a 5.6-magnitude earthquake a week after rumblings were detected at the volcano which grounded 900 flights in 2011. 

The Icelandic Meteorological Office said the quake struck at 1.43pm on Tuesday and was centred near Krysuvik, about 20 miles south of the capital. There were no immediate reports of injuries. 

Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir was being interviewed on live television from her home when everything around her started shaking.

It comes after scientists last week warned that the Grímsvötn volcano was gearing up for another eruption.

The volcano is notorious for spewing a 12-mile ash cloud into the air and causing the cancellation of 900 flights in 2011.

Another Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajökull, erupted in 2010 and this caused far more unrest, grounding around 100,000 flights.  

This is despite Eyjafjallajökull being considerably smaller than Grímsvötn. 

Scientists have recorded signs of unrest in the area, with seismic activity indicating magma is swelling in the plumbing of the volcano. 

Dr Dave McGarvie, a volcano expert at Lancaster University, adds in an article for The Conversation: 'Increasing thermal activity has been melting more ice and there has also been a recent increase in earthquake activity.'