Nov 11, 2023 at 6:05 AM Update: an hour ago
A state of emergency has been declared in Iceland and it has been decided to completely evacuate the fishing village of Grindavík, about fifty kilometers from the capital Reykjavík. After weeks of heavy earthquakes, authorities fear that the volcano on Mount Thorbjörn will soon erupt.
About 24,000 earthquakes have been recorded in Iceland since the end of October. On Friday there were about eight hundred, including a heavy one with a magnitude of 5.2.
Due to the increased number of earthquakes, the IMO, the Icelandic counterpart of the KNMI, expects that a volcanic eruption could occur “within a few days”.
Earlier this week, the famous Blue Lagoon Spa was evacuated as a precaution. After the quakes on Friday, it was also decided to evacuate Grindavík, a town with around 4,000 inhabitants. The road that runs from north to south on the Reykjanes Peninsula has already been closed due to earthquake damage.
Magma flows under the village of Grindavík
An expert from the IMO told the news site early Saturday morning RUV know that the seismological activity has been noticed further south, closer to Grindavík. Magma is flowing into the ground beneath the village. It is therefore possible that lava will take its place in the event of a volcanic eruption, the expert said. However, volcanoes are difficult to predict. On Friday, the IMO reported that magma was formed at a depth of 5 kilometers.
There are about thirty active volcanoes in Iceland. The Reykjanes Peninsula has seen three volcanic eruptions since 2021, all far from densely populated areas or important infrastructure.
In April 2010, the volcano under the Eyjafjallajökull glacier erupted. About 100,000 flights were canceled, leaving 10 million travelers stranded worldwide.
Image: ANP
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IcelandAbroad
2023-11-11 05:05:04
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