Earthquake strikes an area worth monitoring

A magnitude 3.0 earthquake east of Lake Kleifarvatn was followed by smaller tremors, in a sequence an Icelandic weather service expert described as typical for the area.

“This is just very standard for this area, really. One earthquake like this occurs, then dozens of aftershocks follow, and then it dies down. That is how it looks now,” said Ingibjörg Andrea Bergþórsdóttir, a natural-hazard expert at the Icelandic Meteorological Office.

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This is just very standard for this area, really. One earthquake like this occurs, then dozens of aftershocks follow, and then it dies down. That is how it looks now.

She said the location still deserved monitoring. A large fault named Hvalhnúkur lies a short distance to the east and is considered capable of triggering major earthquakes. Bergþórsdóttir said there was no way to know whether the current activity could set anything in motion, but added that it was something to keep in mind.

At present, she said, nothing indicated that the activity would intensify. Asked whether the earthquake was connected to a power outage that affected Reykjavík and Mosfellsbær at roughly the same time, she said she could not answer. “They happened at remarkably similar times. The timing is suspicious,” she said.

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They happened at remarkably similar times. The timing is suspicious.