Earthquake swarm underway near Reykjanestá, Iceland
An earthquake swarm began off Reykjanestá, Iceland at 14:30 UTC on March 12, 2025, with more than 104 events by 18:20 UTC.
Earthquake swarm Reykjanestá, Iceland - March 12, 2025. Image credit: IMO
The strongest quake in the series thus far was M3.4 at 14:57 UTC, 1.1 km (X miles) ENE of Reykjanestá. There were two more quakes with magnitudes above 3 — M3.1 at 14:31 UTC and M3.3 at 13:33.
“No reports have been received indicating that the earthquakes were felt in populated areas,” the Icelandic Met Office said.
The last earthquake swarm in this region occurred in late December 2024, when tremors of similar magnitude were recorded. At that time, seismic activity was located near Eldey, about 10 km (6 miles) southwest of Reykjanestá, which is also where the current swarm is concentrated.
Since 2023, five earthquake swarms have been recorded in this area, in addition to significant swarms in 2021 and 2022.
The current seismic activity may be triggered by stress changes in the Reykjanes Peninsula.
I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
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