A study by the Icelandic Meteorological Office published on December 2009 indicated an increase in seismic activity around the Eyjafjallajökull area during the years 2006-2009. The study reported increased activity that occurred between June and August 2009 (200 events), compared to a total of about 250 earthquakes recorded between September 2006 and August 2009. It further indicated that the locations of most of the earthquakes in 2009 occurred between depth east of the volcano's top crater. At the end of December 2009, seismic activity began around the Eyjafjallajökull volcano area, with thousands of small earthquakes (mostly of magnitude 1-2 Mw), beneath the volcano.