Earthquake near Kleifarvatn strikes area under monitoring

A magnitude 3.0 earthquake east of Kleifarvatn on Friday evening was followed by several smaller tremors, but there is no indication of unusual activity, according to a natural-hazard specialist at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, as reported by mbl.is.

“This is very standard for this area. One earthquake occurs, followed by dozens of aftershocks, and then the activity dies down. That is what it looks like now,” said Ingibjörg Andrea Bergþórsdóttir.

She said the earthquake occurred in an area that merits monitoring. A large fault known as Hvalhnúkur lies a short distance to the east and is considered capable of triggering major earthquakes.

“There is no way to say whether the activity happening there now will trigger anything. It is nevertheless something that is always worth keeping in mind,” Ingibjörg said.

She stressed, however, that there was currently no indication that the activity would increase.

Asked whether the earthquake could be linked to a power outage that affected Reykjavík and Mosfellsbær at around the same time, Ingibjörg said she could not answer. She noted that the timing of the events was strikingly similar.

“They happened at remarkably similar times. The timing is suspicious,” she said.