Iceland Earthquakes – Rifts, Swarms and Shifting Ground

No M1.5+ Iceland earthquakes have been recorded in the past 24 hours.

Iceland’s Earthquake Map

Follow recorded earthquake activity around Iceland, from the Reykjanes Peninsula to the offshore faults of the north coast. The map shows available USGS events of magnitude 1.5+ that meet this page’s regional filters. Select the last hour, 24 hours, 7 days or 30 days, then click a marker for its magnitude, location, UTC time and depth. Counts and lists update when the page loads or refreshes.

Iceland’s local seismic network detects many more small earthquakes than appear in the USGS catalogue. During an active swarm, the difference can be substantial. For the most detailed local picture, compare this regional view with the Icelandic Met Office earthquake service. An empty map here does not mean that Iceland’s instruments have recorded no earthquakes.

iceland earthquakes (map loads with JavaScript)

Coverage around Iceland: This view includes Iceland and selected nearby offshore earthquake regions. The northern Mid-Atlantic Ridge extends beyond the map’s monitoring area, and Jan Mayen has a different regional setting. Local earthquake counts may differ from this page because agencies use different detection thresholds and catalogue criteria.

An Island Built Across a Moving Boundary

Iceland’s earthquakes are part of the process that builds and reshapes the island. The North American and Eurasian plates pull apart here, while magma rises through a hot, fractured crust. Most earthquakes are small, but the country also has faults capable of producing damaging shaking. A swarm near a volcano and a strong earthquake beneath a farming district can share a tectonic setting without having the same immediate cause.

The Mid-Atlantic Ridge is mostly hidden beneath the ocean. In Iceland, parts of that spreading boundary are exposed on land. At Þingvellir, faults and fissures make the movement visible in the landscape. The national park’s explanation of tectonic movements describes plate separation averaging about two centimetres per year, with strain accumulating and being released unevenly rather than every crack opening at a steady pace.

This makes Iceland quite different from the collision-dominated earthquake belts around much of southern Europe. The boundary is also segmented. Rift zones, where the crust stretches, are linked by zones that accommodate sideways movement. Those connecting zones are especially important when considering Iceland’s largest damaging earthquakes.

The Earthquake Belts Do Not All Behave Alike

Reykjanes and the Southwest

The Reykjanes Peninsula combines stretching with sideways fault movement. It contains several volcanic systems rather than one volcano with several interchangeable names. Earthquakes may accompany magma intrusion, respond to changes in stress around an intrusion, or occur on tectonic faults without magma reaching the surface.

Fagradalsfjall’s eruptions began in 2021. The later unrest around Svartsengi, the Sundhnúkur crater row and Grindavík belongs to a neighbouring volcanic system. The Icelandic Met Office and University of Iceland overview of the peninsula’s reactivation explains that distinction. Grouping every southwest earthquake under “Fagradalsfjall” can obscure where the activity is actually happening.

The South Iceland Seismic Zone

The southern lowlands contain a major zone of sideways deformation between spreading segments. Individual earthquakes often rupture roughly north–south faults within the broader east–west zone, a pattern sometimes compared to books rotating on a shelf. This is not a simple open rift, and its stronger earthquakes need not indicate an approaching eruption.

Selfoss, Hveragerði, Hella and surrounding rural communities have experienced damaging shaking from this region. Research on the June 2000 earthquake doublet examines how one strong rupture affected seismic activity around it. The distinction matters for residents and visitors because a tectonic sequence can produce aftershocks even where there is no volcanic emergency.

The Northern Offshore Faults

North of Iceland, the Tjörnes Fracture Zone connects the Northern Volcanic Zone with the offshore Kolbeinsey Ridge. It includes the Húsavík–Flatey fault and other active structures. Earthquakes offshore can be felt in coastal communities such as Húsavík and Siglufjörður, as well as farther inland.

The June 2020 swarm is a useful example. The Met Office identified the earthquakes as tectonic, close to the junction of the Húsavík–Flatey fault and Eyjafjarðaráll graben. A tightly packed cluster on a map therefore does not, by itself, establish that a volcano is about to erupt.

Krafla, Askja and the Northern Rift

The Northern Volcanic Zone contains volcanic centres and long fissure swarms through which deformation can extend well beyond a central crater. Magma may travel sideways through a sheet-like fracture called a dyke, opening the crust and changing stress on nearby faults. Earthquake locations can help scientists follow that movement underground.

Krafla’s 1975–1984 rifting episode remains an important example. Research on seismicity in the Northern Volcanic Zone describes repeated dyke intrusions, deformation and earthquakes during the crisis. Some intrusions erupted and others did not, which is one reason a line of earthquakes should not be treated as a guaranteed future lava fissure.

Ice-Covered Volcanoes and the Interior

Vatnajökull covers volcanic systems including Bárðarbunga and Grímsvötn, while Katla lies beneath Mýrdalsjökull farther south. Their earthquake activity has to be interpreted alongside ice, meltwater, geothermal activity and magma movement. An earthquake beneath a glacier is a location, not a complete diagnosis of what caused it.

At Katla, the Met Office’s volcano summary identifies 1918 as the last eruption to break through the ice. Historical averages do not provide an eruption timetable. Scientists assess changes in observations rather than declaring that a volcano must erupt because an average interval has passed.

Why an Earthquake Swarm Is Not an Eruption Forecast

A swarm is a concentration of earthquakes in time and space, often without one dominant mainshock. In Iceland, swarms can arise from tectonic faulting, magma intrusion or changes in fluids and pressure. Several processes may interact during the same episode, so a simple division into “volcanic” and “non-volcanic” can be misleading.

Scientists look for a combination of evidence. Are earthquake locations migrating? Is the ground rising or pulling apart? Have tremor, gas measurements or other observations changed? Ground deformation can be especially revealing because magma may continue accumulating during periods with relatively few earthquakes. Conversely, vigorous earthquake activity can decline without an eruption following.

The consequences can also begin before lava appears. On 10 November 2023, rapid dyke intrusion beneath Grindavík was accompanied by major fault movement and cracking. The research summary of that intrusion describes a magma-filled fracture about 15 km long. Its impact was not limited to shaking from individual earthquakes.

Did you know?
At Þingvellir, the earthquakes of June 2000 dislodged stones and disturbed water in fissures even though their sources were roughly 40–50 km away. An earthquake does not have to occur beneath a viewpoint to create rockfall danger.
Þingvellir National Park

Depth, Geothermal Activity and the Limits of a Map

Many of Iceland’s earthquakes occur within the brittle upper crust. Heat affects how deep rock can fracture, and that depth varies between regions. Shallow earthquakes can produce sharp local shaking, but a depth value alone cannot tell you whether magma is involved. Early depths and locations can also change as more recordings are reviewed.

Geothermal operations add another source of small earthquakes in some areas. Fluid injection can change underground pressure and trigger slip on existing fractures. Iceland’s National Energy Authority explains induced seismicity associated with geothermal fluid discharge. That does not make every earthquake near a power station industrially caused, but it is part of the local context around developed geothermal fields.

When comparing events, keep magnitude and shaking intensity separate. Magnitude describes the source; the shaking at a building depends on distance, depth, the rupture and local ground conditions. Small nearby earthquakes can feel abrupt, while a larger remote event may be barely noticed.

Earthquakes and Rifting Episodes Worth Remembering

Iceland’s seismic history includes damaging tectonic earthquakes as well as volcanic episodes in which earthquakes helped reveal major changes underground. The examples below distinguish individual earthquakes from sequences and intrusions. Historical magnitudes are estimates, and different studies can report somewhat different values or scales.

• 1896 and 1912 in the southern lowlands
  A series of strong earthquakes crossed South Iceland in 1896, followed by a large earthquake in the eastern part of the zone in 1912. These belong to South Iceland’s history, rather than to Dalvík in the north. Research on Icelandic building vulnerability places the older sequence in context with later damaging earthquakes. Exact historical magnitudes deserve more caution than a modern event label suggests.
• The Krafla rifting crisis and the 1976 Kópasker earthquake
  Repeated intrusions and eruptions between 1975 and 1984 opened the northern rift. The strong 13 January 1976 earthquake near Kópasker occurred during this wider crisis, near the transition between rifting and transform faulting. Research on dyke injection and fault slip during the Krafla crisis examines their interaction. This was a sequence of linked processes, not one continuous eruption or one earthquake.
• The June 2000 South Iceland doublet
  Strong earthquakes on 17 and 21 June caused damage across parts of the southern lowlands. Research into the doublet and its triggered seismicity examines the two major strike-slip ruptures. The events are commonly described as roughly magnitude 6.5, with reported values differing by magnitude scale and analysis. Their proximity in time made the sequence important for understanding interacting faults.
• The 2008 Ölfus earthquake, Mw6.3
  On 29 May, a damaging earthquake struck between Selfoss and Hveragerði. A University of Iceland study of the earthquake documents strong ground motion and observed damage near the source. It remains a valuable example of a tectonic earthquake affecting settled lowland communities rather than an isolated volcanic area.
• Bárðarbunga and Holuhraun in 2014–2015
  Magma travelled away from Bárðarbunga as a major fissure eruption developed at Holuhraun, while the volcano’s caldera subsided. The Met Office’s account of the gradual caldera collapse explains the connection between magma outflow and subsidence. Repeated strong earthquakes during this episode show why earthquakes associated with volcanoes should not all be assumed to be tiny.
• The 2020 offshore North Iceland swarm
  The sequence beginning on 19 June included M5.4 and M5.6 earthquakes on 20 June and an M5.8 earthquake on 21 June. The Met Office’s event summary places these earthquakes within the Tjörnes Fracture Zone. Their tectonic origin makes the sequence a useful counterexample to the assumption that every Icelandic swarm signals magma nearing the surface.
• Reykjanes reactivation and the 2021 Fagradalsfjall eruption
  Unrest beginning in late 2019 developed into a period of major earthquake activity and magma intrusion, followed by the March 2021 eruption at Fagradalsfjall. The scientific overview of Reykjanes reactivation separates the Fagradalsfjall activity from the later Svartsengi system. This is a lasting turning point in the peninsula’s volcanic history, rather than a rolling list of each new tremor.
• The November 2023 Grindavík intrusion
  On 10 November, magma rapidly propagated beneath the Sundhnúkur crater row and Grindavík, prompting evacuation and causing ground deformation and infrastructure damage. The joint research by the University of Iceland, the Met Office and collaborators explains how the intrusion formed. Subsequent eruptions belong to the Svartsengi–Sundhnúkur episode; current access and hazard assessments should always come from official updates.

Shaking Is Only One Part of Iceland’s Geological Hazard

In the southern lowlands, shaking can damage buildings, contents, roads and buried services. Around active intrusions, fault movement can also create cracks, steps and subsidence at the surface. Buildings designed to resist shaking are not automatically protected against a large fracture opening beneath them. The type of ground movement matters as much as the fact that earthquakes have occurred.

Near volcanoes, hazards can include gas, lava, ash and glacial outburst floods, depending on the system and the event. A jökulhlaup is a sudden release of water from or beneath a glacier; volcanic activity can cause one, but not every such flood implies an eruption. Keep earthquake information separate from the specific warnings issued for rivers, glaciers and volcanic areas.

Water-related hazards also need careful wording. An offshore earthquake does not automatically generate a tsunami. Large landslides can produce dangerous local waves without a major earthquake, as the 2014 rockslide into Askja’s caldera lake demonstrated. A lake wave, a coastal tsunami and a glacial flood have different sources and require different local responses.

Living Here or Visiting During Unrest

When the Ground Starts Shaking

Iceland’s Civil Protection advice uses the words Duck, Cover, Hold. Get low, protect your head and neck, take cover under a sturdy table where possible and hold on. Indoors, stay away from windows and objects that could fall. Do not rush outside during the shaking, when falling debris can make exits hazardous.

Outdoors, keep away from unstable slopes, cliff edges, buildings and power lines. Once shaking stops, expect aftershocks and avoid damaged structures. If you are near an area with ground cracking, do not assume an apparently solid surface is safe to cross. Follow cordons and evacuation instructions rather than trying to assess the danger from a phone map.

A Few Preparations That Make a Difference

• Secure tall furniture and keep heavy objects away from beds.
• Keep essential medication, water, food, a torch and a charged power bank accessible.
• Know the evacuation arrangements at your home or accommodation and agree on a meeting place.
• Check official notices before entering volcanic or geothermal areas, including places visited safely on an earlier trip.
• Before a remote journey, review route conditions and submit a travel plan where appropriate.
• Treat road closures, unstable ground and gas warnings as separate hazards, even if earthquake activity has declined.

For travel conditions, Safetravel, run by Iceland’s search-and-rescue association is a useful official starting point. Our Earthquake Safety guide covers actions during shaking, while the Earthquake Preparedness guide helps with supplies and household planning.

Who Measures the Movement Beneath Iceland

The Icelandic Met Office operates the national seismic monitoring network, combining earthquake observations with other measurements used to assess natural hazards. The FDSN description of Iceland’s SIL network explains its role in locating small earthquakes, mapping faults and tracking magma movement. Researchers also use GNSS stations and satellite radar to measure ground deformation that a seismometer alone cannot describe.

• Icelandic Met Office earthquake service Local earthquake observations and preliminary event information.
• Met Office natural-hazard updates Specialist assessments that put changing observations into context.
• Icelandic Civil Protection Public protection guidance and emergency information.
• Safetravel Travel conditions and advice for people moving through the country.

This page’s earthquake list, map and statistics use the shared USGS dataset configured for Iceland. They do not incorporate every event from the local network. Monitoring supports scientific assessment and public decisions, but it does not provide a dependable timetable for the next damaging earthquake or guarantee an advance warning before an eruption.

🗺️ Follow the Wider Plate Boundary

Another Atlantic setting
The Azores earthquake map follows a different part of the Atlantic plate-boundary system, where three major plates meet.

Compare other European regions
Europe Earthquakes | Italy Earthquakes | Greece Earthquakes

Earthquakes Today Worldwide