Three Earthquakes Shaking Up Borgarnes

On Monday afternoon, three earthquakes occurred in western Iceland, about 24.9 km north of Borgarnes. According to mbl.is, the largest quake measured a magnitude of 3.

Rare but not unusual

Borgarnes, 75 kilometers north of Reykjavík, has been dealing with earthquakes in the past, though they are not common in the area. According to the Meteorological Office’s measurements, the earthquake was at a depth of 13.3 km and struck at 16:35. There have been no more earthquakes in the area in the past week.

Bryndís Ýrar Gísladóttir, a nature conservation specialist at the Meteorological Office, says, “We had an earthquake there a few weeks ago, too. I might not say that earthquakes in this area are common, but they do occur. There were some at the beginning of June and then there have been some in the past.”

More seismic measurements, more earthquakes

Recently, more seismic measuring stations were installed on the Snæfellsness Peninsula, around Snæfellsjökull. Bryndís explains, “The stations can help detect earthquakes in this area. The more we have, the more earthquakes we find.”

Svanhildur Björk Svansdóttir, a farmer on the farm Álftártunga in Borgarnes, felt the earthquakes and was about 13 kilometers away from the source of the quake. “It was unbelievable. I stood there on the floor and felt three little vibrations. My husband was walking when this happened and did not notice anything. But I noticed it because I was standing still. I looked at the dogs to see if they were scratching themselves because sometimes there is a little vibration with it, but they just lay still.”

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