Iceland’s Katla volcano is always aquiver with seismic activity and local people and scientists have been waiting for an eruption for years — although they probably experienced them this year and in 1999 without even noticing. Read the full story

It is always headline news when an earthquake is felt in the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik — even though such events are surprisingly regular. Over 500 small quakes have shaken southwest Iceland yesterday alone. Read the full story

A seabed mapping expedition in the Arctic region has returned evidence that suggests Denmark has a strong claim to the North Pole thanks to its continued sovereignty over Greenland, whose Home Rule does not entirely remove it from the Danish kingdom. At present, no nation has sovereign rights over the North Pole, even though many covet the idea now that the Arctic appears to be warming up. Read the full story

An earthquake measuring around 4.7 hit the southern region of Sweden last week, causing little damage but rattling the nerves of thousands of people. Seismologists estimate the epicentre of the quake was 18kms beneath the surface of the earth just outside of Malmo’s Sturup Airport. Read the full story

With Iceland being located on the junction of the Eurasian and North American Tectonic plates, large parts of the country are volcanically active. Some of the volcanoes even erupt with somewhat regular intervals. Consequently the Icelandic Meteorological Office keeps a close watch on all seismoligical activity in Iceland. The image from their website shows the current and last 48 hours’ level of activity with yesterday’s large earthquake, magnitude of 6.1 – 6.3, literally off the chart. The green stars on the map represent quakes over 3 on the Richter scale.

Authorities don’t expect more big quakes but as evident by the chart, the earth is still moving under the shaken population of Selfoss, Hveragerdi and surrounding area, many of which have moved out of their seriously damaged homes.

Researchers have identified a ‘seismic hum’ in the ocean expanse between Iceland and the Labrador Sea, according to Nature.com.

Under certain conditions in which waves collide and emit vibrations down to the ocean floor, a hum is created that is detectable for thousands of kilometres. The new research gives weight to the old notion that oceans have the capacity to generate strong seismic activity.

These seismic hums, or ‘microseisms’, are normally created near coastlines or in stormy seas. Seismologists detect them by installing seismometers that detect the slow vibrations.

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