[1/3]Cracks appear on a road due to volcanic activity near a police station in Grindavik, Iceland, November 11, 2023. RUV/Ragnar Visage/Handout via Portal acquire license rights
COPENHAGEN, Nov 11 (Portal) – Icelandic authorities said on Saturday they were preparing for a volcanic eruption in the southwest of the island in the coming days, following a series of earthquakes and evidence of rapid spread of magma underground.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office said there was a “significant” risk of an eruption on or just off the Reykjanes Peninsula due to the size of the underground magma intrusion and the speed at which it was moving.
“The likelihood of an eruption has increased since this morning and an eruption could begin at any time in the next few days,” it said in a statement.
The Icelandic Civil Protection Agency ordered the complete evacuation of Grindavik, a fishing village with around 3,000 residents, overnight.
There have been several outbreaks in unpopulated areas in the Reykjanes region in recent years. The latest eruption is expected to begin on the seabed southwest of Grindavik, the weather office said.
A tunnel of magma, or molten rock, stretching northeast across Grindavik and about 10 kilometers further inland was estimated to be less than 800 meters deep late Saturday, compared with 1,500 meters earlier in the day, the office said.
On Thursday, increased seismic activity led to the closure of the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, one of Iceland’s top tourist attractions.
Reykjanes is a volcanic and seismic hotspot southwest of the capital Reykjavik. In March 2021, lava fountains spectacularly erupted from a fissure between 500 and 750 meters long in the region’s Fagradalsfjall volcanic system.
Volcanic activity in the area continued for six months this year, prompting thousands of Icelanders and tourists to visit the site. A three-week eruption occurred in the same area in August 2022, followed by another in July this year.
The approximately 6 km wide and 19 km long Fagradalsfjall system had remained dormant for more than 6,000 years before the recent eruptions.
Reporting by Jacob Gronholt-Pedersen and Louise Rasmussen in Copenhagen; Edited by David Holmes and Christina Fincher
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