A strong earthquake
Today, Thursday 29 May 2008 at 15:45, an earthquake of the size 6.1 on the Richter scale occurred in Southwest Iceland. It was found in Reykjavík and elsewhere. Its origin was near mountain Ingólfsfjall, 5 km northwest of Selfoss which is a town 55 km east of Reykjavík. This area is referred to as Ölfus. The bridges across river Ölfusá were closed temporarily for routine safety precautions.
Please use our enquiry form to report any observations of the earthquake and its effects. Take care to mention location and timing also.
Ölfus is in the so called south Iceland seizmic zone where earthquakes are to be expected because of conflicting rift zones on either side. To the west of Selfoss lies the subaerial part of the Mid Atlantic ridge. To the east of Selfoss lies the northward continuation of that rift, stretching first northeast and then due north through the uninhabited highlands and Krafla high energy geothermal field near lake Mývatn, continuing off the north coast of Iceland out into the North Atlantic.
