The National Weather Service’s round-the-clock watch.
- As of today, SeisComP has officially been adopted as the primary system for earthquake monitoring and analysis by the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO).
- The SIL system, which has been in operation since 1991, is being phased out after serving three decades.
- SeisComP significantly enhances the IMO’s capacity to monitor seismic activity in real-time, facilitating reliable communication regarding natural hazards.
- While SeisComP is fine-tuned and historical data is being migrated, the SIL system will continue to function as a secondary protocol to ensure seamless continuity of earthquake records.
- An upgraded version of Skjálftalísa has replaced the previous iteration, now featuring a new data gateway that simplifies user access to earthquake data.
Today the Icelandic Meteorological Office formally commissioned SeisComP as its primary system for earthquake monitoring and analysis. It marks the end of a long chapter — the SIL system has been the backbone of earthquake monitoring in Iceland since the country moved to digital, automated seismic measurements in 1991. When SIL launched, it was genuinely ahead of its time, built on automation and neural networks that were novel at that point. Work on harmonizing data retroactively to February 1 is already underway.
A Major Advancement in Earthquake Monitoring
The move to SeisComP is a real step forward for how the IMO tracks seismic activity. Years of groundwork have gone into this — technical upgrades, procedural changes, better tools for analysts, and a more modern working environment for the specialists involved. It’s not a simple system swap; the preparation has been substantial.
“With SeisComP, we are bolstering the Icelandic Meteorological Office’s ability to detect and evaluate seismic activity in real-time. Such advancements are essential for public safety and ensuring effective communication regarding natural hazards.”
Kristin Jonsdóttir,
Head of the Department of Earth Sciences (volcanology, seismology, and crustal deformation), Service and Research Division, Icelandic Meteorological Office
New Skjálftalísa and Enhanced Data Access
Alongside the system change, the Skjálftalísa web interface has been overhauled. The new version carries a wider range of layers and more capable analytical tools than its predecessor.
Work is ongoing to bring the historical SIL earthquake catalogue into SeisComP, with Skjálftalísa being updated accordingly. A new data gateway — the Quakes API — is also rolling out, giving users a cleaner way to pull earthquake data.
The newly revamped Skjálftalísa, now based on data from the SeisComP system, provides real-time seismic activity visualization along with analyses of earthquake depth, frequency, and temporal trends.
What Can Users Expect?
- The number of reviewed earthquakes may see a temporary decline as manual analysis aligns with previous standards.
- Minor adjustments in earthquake locations may occur due to differing processing methodologies between the systems.
- SeisComP has been fine-tuned to detect smaller earthquakes, rendering it more sensitive in specific regions.
- The new Skjálftalísa has now officially launched.
SeisComP – A Robust System with Deep Roots
SeisComP is the most widely used earthquake monitoring system in the world. The IMO’s partners — including ÍSOR, the Swedish National Seismic Network (SNSN), and the Swiss Seismological Service (SED) — have all been running SeisComP for some time and supported the IMO through this transition.
The system is open-source (AGPL), developed and maintained in collaboration with the software firm Gempa, which supplies licensed extensions and services. One of its key strengths is that custom processing methods can be built directly into it. In recent years the IMO has developed specialised software modules tailored to the particular sensitivity requirements of Iceland’s active seismic zones. The system handles everything in one place — data acquisition, distribution, quality control, and real-time analysis.
The Legacy of SIL – A Milestone in Icelandic Earthquake Research
The SIL earthquake monitoring system started up in 1991, timed with Iceland’s shift to digital and automated seismic measurements. It could automatically detect micro-earthquakes down to a magnitude of M0, generating detailed data that fed decades of research into earthquake forecasting and stress accumulation in the Earth’s crust.
SIL was developed by seismologists from across the Nordic countries, led by Ragnar Stefánsson, with key contributions from Reynir Böðvarsson at Uppsala University and Ragnar Slunga from the Swedish Defence Research Agency (FOI). The system was designed specifically for the South Iceland Seismic Zone — which is where the acronym SIL comes from: “South Iceland Lowland.”
To make it work, a dense network of seismic stations had to be built, along with processing methods capable of pulling faint micro-seismic signals out of noisy environments. It succeeded. For a period, SIL was among the best micro-earthquake detection and analysis systems anywhere in the world.
The first eight seismic stations were installed in South Iceland between 1989 and 1990, with automated processing beginning in late May 1991. The network has grown considerably since then, now covering both Iceland’s plate boundaries and its volcanic systems, with roughly 100 stations in operation.
In its early years, SIL logged between two and three thousand earthquakes annually. As the network expanded and sensitivity improved, that number climbed — particularly during seismic swarms, magma intrusions, and volcanic eruptions. To date, the SIL system has automatically recorded over 1.1 million earthquakes, of which approximately 780,000 have been reviewed by specialists at the Icelandic Meteorological Office.
Example of earthquake recording in the SIL system, showcasing the manual picking of P- and S-waves. This cornerstone of earthquake monitoring in Iceland has shaped research for over three decades but is now transitioning to innovative technologies with SeisComP.
Looking Ahead
Deploying SeisComP opens the second phase of the project. Over the coming months, the focus will be on sharpening analytical capabilities, improving earthquake location accuracy, strengthening documentation, and refining the system’s interface.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office extends its gratitude to all who have contributed to this transition.
