The Icelandic Met Office recorded a
Magnitude 5.2 Earthquake at a depth of 9.2 km, off the north coast of Iceland, roughly 40 km to the northeast of the town of Siglufjörður in Southern Iceland, at about 3.05
pm GMT on Saturday 20 June 2020. There are no reports of any damage or casualties associated with this event, but people have reported feeling it on the northern Icelandic coast.
The approximate location of the 20 June 2020 Iceland Earthquake. USGS.
Iceland lies directly upon the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a chain of (mostly)
submerged volcanoes running the length of the Atlantic Ocean along which
the ocean is splitting apart, with new material forming at the fringes
of the North American and European Plates beneath the sea (or, in
Iceland, above it). The Atlantic is spreading at an average rate of 25
mm per year, with new seafloor being produced along the rift
volcanically, i.e. by basaltic magma erupting from below. The ridge
itself takes the form of a chain of volcanic mountains running the
length of the ocean, fed by the upwelling of magma beneath the diverging
plates. In places this produces volcanic activity above the waves, in
the Azores, on Iceland and on Jan Mayen Island. All of this results in
considerable Earth-movement beneath Iceland, where Earthquakes are a
frequent event.
The passage of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge beneath Iceland. NOAA National Geophysical Data Center.
Witness
accounts of Earthquakes can help geologists to understand these events,
and the structures that cause them. The international non-profit
organisation Earthquake Report is interested in hearing from people who may have felt this event; if you felt this quake then you can report it to Earthquake Report here.
See also...
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