The National Commissioner of Police has, in consultation with the Chief of Police in the northeastern part of Iceland, has declared uncertainty phase due to the earthquake swarm in Öxarfjörður.
The earthquake swarm in Öxarfjordur is ongoing, about 6 km SW of the town of Kópasker. The swarm began last Saturday 23 of March.
Eight earthquakes of magnitude 3 or higher have been measured, the largest of which measured M4.2 yesterday evening at 20:29.
Today, 28. of March at 05:48 an earthquake of M3.8 was detected, another one M3.0 was measured at 12:37. The swarm activity has not subsided during the day and is still ongoing.
This is a known earthquake area and activity like this is well known. Larger earthquakes can occur but in most cases, the activity goes down without major event.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office has received reports from residents of Kópasker and in Kelduhverfi who have felt the largest earthquakes.
Declaring uncertainty phase means increased monitoring of scenarios that could later threaten health and safety of people, the environment or populated areas. Declaring a level of uncertainty is part of the civil protection system’s procedures to ensure formal communication and information sharing between the respondents and the public.
The Civil Protection Department of the National Commissioner of Police and the Police Commissioner in the North East encourage people who live in known earthquake areas to consider security in their homes and workplaces. On the website of the Civil Protection Department of the National Commissioner of Police (www.almannavarnir.is), information on how to reduce risk of damage and / or accidents during an earthquake. See here https://www.almannavarnir.is/natturuva/jardskjalftar/varnir-gegn-jardskjalfta/
On the IMO website you can submit notifications if you have felt an earthquake and see an overview of all earthquakes in Iceland during the last 48 hours. www.vedur.is