Recent earthquake activity
Earthquakes in Iceland: latest news, today and the last 30 days
Iceland sits astride the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, where the North American and Eurasian plates pull apart. Earthquake swarms here are closely tied to volcanic activity, especially on the Reykjanes Peninsula.
Updated 2026-10-20 23:15 UTC
Latest earthquake news in Iceland
The most notable recent events in Iceland, newest first. Each links to its own page with the full record, a map and felt reports. This page is rebuilt every 30 minutes.
- M 5.3 116 km WNW of Höfn, Iceland
depth 10.0 km · 116 km WNW of Höfn, Iceland
- M 3.4 near Iceland
depth 1.1 km · ICELAND
- M 2.9 near Reykjanesbær, Iceland
depth 7.8 km · 42 km ENE of Grindavík, Iceland
Iceland earthquake activity at a glance
What the last 30 days look like in Iceland
4 earthquakes of magnitude 2.0 or above were recorded in the last 7 days, the same as the week before. In the last 24 hours: 0.
The largest was M5.3 on October 19, 116 km WNW of Höfn, Iceland, 10.0 km deep.
Nearly all were shallow (less than 70 km down), so even moderate magnitudes can be felt clearly close to the epicentre.
Map of recent earthquakes in Iceland and the surrounding area
Circle size shows magnitude and color shows depth. Select a marker to highlight its event below.
Every recorded event
28 earthquakes of magnitude 2.0+ recorded in Iceland and the surrounding area in the last 30 days.
Both the USGS global catalog and the EMSC European-Mediterranean catalog are used here, deduplicated — EMSC records the small local events the global catalog does not. 26 of the events below come from EMSC.
M 2.8 ICELAND
M 3.4 ICELAND
M 2.9 42 km ENE of Grindavík, Iceland
M 3.5 57 km WNW of Hvolsvöllur, Iceland
M 3.0 45 km NE of Sandgerði, Iceland
M 3.4 43 km ENE of Grindavík, Iceland
M 2.9 ICELAND REGION
M 4.7 112 km W of Höfn, Iceland
M 2.8 ICELAND REGION
M 2.8 ICELAND REGION
M 3.1 48 km SW of Siglufjörður, Iceland
M 3.7 59 km S of Siglufjörður, Iceland
M 3.1 ICELAND
M 3.4 ICELAND REGION
M 3.2 ICELAND REGION
M 3.3 13 km NNW of Hafnarfjörður, Iceland
M 3.0 57 km WNW of Hvolsvöllur, Iceland
M 2.9 57 km WNW of Hvolsvöllur, Iceland
M 2.8 ICELAND
M 2.8 ICELAND
M 3.3 58 km S of Siglufjörður, Iceland
M 3.3 ICELAND REGION
M 3.6 ICELAND REGION
M 2.9 ICELAND REGION
M 3.5 ICELAND REGION
M 2.9 57 km W of Borgarnes, Iceland
M 2.8 38 km SW of Norðurþing, Iceland
Get earthquake alerts for Iceland
SeismoWatch pushes a notification to your Android phone within minutes of an earthquake in Iceland — at whatever magnitude you choose. No account, no spam.
Frequently asked questions
Was there an earthquake in Iceland today?
No earthquake of magnitude 2.0 or above has been recorded in the last 24 hours. Smaller events may still have occurred below that threshold. This page is rebuilt every 30 minutes.
How many earthquakes does Iceland get?
28 of magnitude 2.0 or above in the last 30 days, 4 of them in the last 7. Most are too small to feel; that is normal for a seismically active region.
What was the biggest recent earthquake in Iceland?
Magnitude 5.3 on October 19, 2026, 116 km WNW of Höfn, Iceland, at a depth of 10.0 km.
How deep are earthquakes in Iceland?
In the last 30 days they ranged from 0.0 km to 12.2 km deep. Shallow earthquakes are felt more strongly near the epicentre; deep ones are felt weakly over a wider area.
How can I get earthquake alerts for Iceland?
Install the free SeismoWatch Android app, draw a box over Iceland, set a minimum magnitude, and turn alerts on. Alerts are sent after an event is published, so they are not an early warning.
Where does this data come from?
From the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) global catalog and the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), deduplicated. Each event links to its own page with the full record.
The strongest earthquakes recorded in Iceland since 1960
The 8 largest events of magnitude 6.0 or above in the Iceland monitoring area, from the USGS catalog. Recent activity is best read against this: a region's ordinary weeks look very different from its worst days.
| Magnitude | Location | Date | Depth |
|---|---|---|---|
| M 6.9 | 41 km W of Siglufjörður, Iceland | March 28, 1963 | 10.0 km |
| M 6.5 | 25 km E of Selfoss, Iceland | June 17, 2000 | 10.0 km |
| M 6.5 | 12 km ENE of Selfoss, Iceland | June 21, 2000 | 10.0 km |
| M 6.4 | 36 km ENE of Norðurþing, Iceland | January 13, 1976 | 33.0 km |
| M 6.3 | 8 km N of Selfoss, Iceland | May 29, 2008 | 9.0 km |
| M 6.1 | 13 km S of Hafnarfjörður, Iceland | December 5, 1968 | 10.0 km |
| M 6.0 | 52 km NNE of Vestmannaeyjar, Iceland | May 25, 1987 | 7.6 km |
| M 6.0 | 27 km NNE of Siglufjörður, Iceland | June 21, 2020 | 10.0 km |
Coverage and data notes
Events are preliminary, so magnitudes and locations may be revised. This page uses a rectangular monitoring area around Iceland, so border areas and nearby offshore zones can include events outside the administrative boundary. Completeness varies: a national network usually records more small earthquakes than the catalogs used here, so treat the counts as a floor rather than a census.
Event data: U.S. Geological Survey (USGS), the European-Mediterranean Seismological Centre (EMSC), in Venezuela FUNVISIS and in Brazil the RSBR through the Centro de Sismologia da USP. Populated places and time zones: GeoNames (CC BY 4.0). Preliminary solutions are revised as more observations arrive.