The authorities in Iceland fear that magma has reached the surface. On Friday evening, the town of Grindavik southwest of Reykjavik was evacuated at short notice.
For several days, people have been waiting for a volcanic eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula, where, among other things, Keflavik airport and the hot springs known as the Blue Lagoon are located. Strong earthquakes are reported in the capital area, write NRK.
The chief of police in the region has together with the civil defense decided to evacuate Grindavik, a town with just over 3,000 inhabitants on the south side of Reykjanes, reports RÚV. The broadcaster states that a strong slip in the Sundhnúka craters may indicate that magma has reached the surface.
Scientists have warned that a possible explosive volcanic eruption may occur shortly. Since March 2021, there have been three eruptions in the area.
Closed lagoon
The Blue Lagoon has been closed for a week due to concerns about an upcoming major volcanic eruption.
In recent days, hundreds of earthquakes have been measured in the area around the world-famous geothermal spa.
Just from midnight to 2 pm on Friday afternoon, 800 earthquakes were measured in the area, according to Islands National Weather Institute.
Hotel guests fled: – Upset
– Can’t be ruled out
It is described that earthquakes occur frequently. Nine of them scored a three on the Richter scale. An earthquake with a magnitude of 4.1 was recorded near Sýlingarfell.
In order for as many people as possible to be able to feel it, the earthquake must have a strength of over three, according to the report Norwegians.
CRACKS: The Grindavíker road closed on Friday evening after an earthquake caused the road to crack and curl. Photo: Vegagerðin Show more
The depth of the earthquakes is estimated to be around five kilometres.
The earthquakes have also caused major damage on the roads.
130 earthquakes in one hour
– Such earthquake swarms have previously been recorded in this area. It cannot be ruled out that the seismic activity near Sundhnjúkagígar is due to magma movements, writes the Icelandic Weather Institute.
Fear of outbreaks
It is feared that an eruption will occur in the volcanic area of Fagradalsfjall on the Reykjanes peninsula.
Fagradalsfjall is the same volcanic area where there was a major volcanic eruption in 2021.
In an earlier edition of this matter, it was stated that there had been a volcanic eruption on the smaller volcano, Litli-Hrútur, on Friday afternoon. It is not true. The correct thing is that lava came out of the volcano on Monday. This has now been corrected.
2023-11-11 01:30:00
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