BREAKING: Iceland Hit By 1,400 Earthquakes In Past 24 Hours!

After reading that headline I know what you’re thinking….how can that possibly be true?

I know that’s what you’re thinking because that’s exactly what I was thinking when I first saw this report.

But we don’t run Fake News around here and stunningly, it IS true!

Not only that, but it’s not that uncommon for Iceland, if you can believe that.

Higher than normal, but not uncommon for hundreds of Earthquakes in Iceland apparently.

Take a look at this:

BREAKING 🚨 Iceland hit by 1,400 earthquakes in past 24 hours, according to Icelandic Met Office pic.twitter.com/O4U753H7PD

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) November 10, 2023

1,400 in the past 24 hours….

And 135 in just the last hour!

JUST IN – Iceland now hit by 135 earthquakes in the last hour pic.twitter.com/MIPN1idv5W

— Insider Paper (@TheInsiderPaper) November 10, 2023

END TIMES, anyone?

CNN confirms:

It’s one of the main draws that brings visitors to Iceland, for a float in its milky-blue, comfortingly warm waters.

But the world-famous Blue Lagoon geothermal pool has closed for a week because of the current seismic activity around the site.

The site is part of southwest Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula – a thick finger of land pointing west into the North Atlantic Ocean from capital Reykjavik. As well as the Blue Lagoon, the peninsula is also home to Iceland’s main airport, Keflavik International.

Iceland is one of the most active volcanic areas on the planet. Rather than having a central volcano, the Reykjanes Peninsula is dominated by a rift valley, with lava fields and cones.

According to the Icelandic Met Office, around 1,400 earthquakes were measured in the 24 hours leading up to around midday on Thursday November 9, with another 800 in the first 14 hours of Friday. Seven of Thursday’s were of a magnitude of four or above – and all of these were on the peninsula, between Eldvörp, near the airport, and Sýlingarfell, a mountain just to the east of the Blue Lagoon.

The most severe quake registered 4.8 west of Þorbjörn, a mountain roughly a mile south of the Blue Lagoon, at just before 1 a.m. on Thursday.

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“It is the largest earthquake since the activity began on October 25th,” the Met Office wrote in a bulletin on Thursday.

“While the accumulation of magma continues, seismic activity can be expected on the Reykjavík Peninsula because the magma intrusion causes increased tension in the area.”

Tremors can be felt from as far away as Reykjavik, a spokesperson for the local tourist board told CNN.

Magma three miles down
In the previous 24 hours, 1,200 earthquakes were measured, mostly in the same area and at the same depth – around five kilometers (three miles) below ground level. “It is likely that seismic activity will continue, and be episodic in intensity, while magma accumulation is ongoing,” the wrote on November 8, adding that “uplift continues in the area.”

By Friday, the area was still active, with around 800 quakes already measured since midnight, according to a 2 p.m. local time bulletin from the Icelandic Met Office. A “dense swarm” of quakes started at 7 a.m., culminating in a 4.1 magnitude quake near Sýlingarfell shortly before 2 p.m..

However it was also at pains to point out that an eruption isn’t necessarily imminent. “The fact that there are now larger earthquakes than before in the area does not necessarily mean an increased rate of magma accumulation,” said Thursday’s Met Office bulletin.

Friday’s bulletin warned that earthquakes of up to 5.5 magnitude “can be expected” as magma accumulation continues below ground. However, they noted, “At this stage, there are no indications that magma is forcing its way to the surface.”

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Here’s what it’s like living there — pretty incredible:

Wow!! Impressive video of one of the recent earthquakes in #Iceland….

The noise 👀😱

Via: @mondoterremoti pic.twitter.com/4LXw3SDu4j

— Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) November 10, 2023

I can’t imagine living with that all the time!

I think I’d be moving!

Also caught on camera here during an Interview with the Mayor:

Whoaah! The mayor of Grindavíkurbær in #Iceland was being interviewed this afternoon when an earthquake struck. That must be so scary and it's been happening all day 👀😱pic.twitter.com/qeBeZDpSo2

— Volcaholic 🌋 (@volcaholic1) November 10, 2023

It sounds downright terrifying!