Since the glacial flood, forming jökulhlaup (literally „glacial run“), reached its peak in Gígjukvísl river about a week ago, the water level started to decrease and is now at background levels prior to the flood.
The seismic tremor has been declining at Grímsfjall station, getting back to normal values. Since last week, 21 earthquakes have been recorded, including two events with M 2.0.
During a field survey of the IMO scientists, a new ice cauldron was identified associated with the recent glacial flood. The IMO continues: „Upon closer examination of satellite images from yesterday, January 21, two cauldrons south of Grímsfjall can be observed. One of them is confirmed to be the cauldron that formed in the 2021 flood, but the other may either be a new cauldron that formed during the recent flood or an older cauldron that has re-emerged. The ice cauldrons are near the route east of Grímsfjall, and it is advisable to avoid the cauldrons when traveling along those routes. „
During the 2021 glacial flood from the volcano, an ice cauldron (ice depression) was formed south of Grímsfjall.
Coordinates for cauldrons are as follows:
Cauldron GV-33: 64°23.611′, -17°13.017′ (decimal degrees, WGS-84)
New cauldron: 64°23.766′, -17°12.729′ (decimal degrees, WGS-84)
Over the past five months, the seismic monitoring at the volcano indicates that the number of earthquakes have been more intense than usual seismic activity. If an eruption were to occur at the volcano, elevated seismic activity may be expected before an eruption.
As the activity has been stable over the past week, the alert level for the volcano, therefore, returned to Green.
Source: Icelandic Met Office volcano activity update 24 January 2024
