The impending volcanic eruption in Iceland is just the beginning of a new era of volcanic eruptions that will last for centuries. Accumulation of magma beneath the coastal town of Grindavik signals more is to come, scientists warn.
The Fagradalsfjall volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula is at risk of erupting, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said, adding that “the likelihood of a volcanic eruption is high” and could occur at any time in the coming days.
After 800 years of inactivity, an eruption in 2021 marked the start of a new cycle of volcanic activity, and now Cambridge volcanologist Clive Oppenheimer says the blast may have ushered in “a new phase of eruption” that could last centuries.
“Time is finally up,” Edward W. Marshall, a researcher at the University of Iceland’s Nordic Volcanological Center, told LiveScience. “We can prepare for another hundred years of eruptions at Reykjanes.”
The region has been hit by more than 800 new earthquakes since midnight. Experts warn that magma is rising ever closer to Earth’s surface, fueling fears of an impending volcanic eruption.
Huge cracks have opened on the main road in Grindavik, southwest Iceland
Houses have been ripped from their foundations by ongoing seismic activity around Grindavik
Mother-of-four Magga Huld AfaÖmmudóttir said her family was left homeless after terrible earthquakes completely destroyed their home
Lava flows on the active volcano Mount Fagradalsfjall, Iceland (file image from 2021)
Thousands of earthquakes over the past week have turned the fishing community of Grindavik into a “ghost town” with 4,000 residents forced to evacuate.
Videos showed apocalyptic scenes in the deserted city, destroyed houses and gaping chasms in the streets.
Those allowed to return to their properties with emergency services to collect their belongings were ordered to evacuate yesterday after the Icelandic Meteorological Office said its meters had detected elevated sulfur dioxide levels – a possible indication of an eruption.
Mother-of-four Magga Huld AfaÖmmudóttir, who had just seven minutes to collect belongings from her home on Monday, said her family was left homeless after terrible earthquakes completely destroyed their property.
“Friday was terrible, the earthquakes didn’t stop for many hours, but we left our house at 9pm on Friday evening with two days’ worth of clothes and two boxes of photo albums and then planned to come by the next day to pick up more,” Magga said Web.
“I’m fine, but at the slightest noise I get scared and cringe, and then in a minute we’re homeless – all kinds of emotions happen,” the 50-year-old said.
“We have to go into the house on Monday.” “We had seven minutes to pick up what we wanted to save, but the focus was on personal belongings of my family – my mother, grandmother and grandfather – and clothing.”
In a video from her home, Magga described her despair at losing the house she and her husband had worked for years to buy.
Footage shows their home ripped from its foundations by the force of successive earthquakes, forcing the family to flee on Friday with few belongings.
About 4,000 residents were evacuated from Grindavik on Saturday morning, hours after Iceland declared a state of emergency.
The southwestern Reykjanes Peninsula has been rocked by thousands of quakes since a seismic swarm on October 25, with Iceland “on the edge” as it expects an eruption of Fagradalsfjall, just a few kilometers from Grindavik.
Mother-of-four Magga Huld AfaÖmmudóttir said her family was left homeless after terrible earthquakes completely destroyed their property
Magga, a resident of Grindavik, only had seven minutes to get things from her house on Monday
Hundreds of smaller quakes and tremors were recorded around Grindavik
A huge, nine-mile-long magma intrusion northwest of Grindavik has formed and is growing, according to experts, with magma believed to be up to 500 meters from the surface.
Just a few days ago, experts said magma was accumulating three miles underground, but if estimates are correct, it has now risen much closer to the surface.
“At this point, it is not possible to determine exactly whether and where magma could reach the surface,” the weather bureau said.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office told police on Tuesday that their new meters had detected elevated sulfur dioxide levels, prompting the police chief to evacuate Grindavik.
Benedikt Ófeigsson, a geophysicist at the Met Office, said that while the amount of SO2 detected was not high, the increase suggested that magma was moving closer to the surface.
A “seismic swarm” hit Iceland on October 25, causing a huge increase in the number of recorded earthquakes
“SO2 is released from magma only very close to the surface.” “It means only the top kilometer,” he said.
The most recent measurements this weekend measured magma at a depth of about 800 meters, but Ófeigsson now believes it is even shallower.
“We’re talking about maybe 500 meters here.” It’s unclear, the pressure is so high that when it occurs depends on the pressure. So it is not possible to determine the depth directly, but it [the magma] must be very flat for us to see SO2.
Ofeigsson told Icelandic broadcaster RUV yesterday that there was no evidence on other equipment that an eruption was starting, but that they did not want to rule it out, saying that SO2 does not appear in this way unless there is magma located very high in the earth’s crust.
Sulfur dioxide is a toxic gas released by magma as it rises to the surface. High exposure is fatal to humans. If discovered on a non-erupting volcano, it could be a sign that it is about to erupt.
Roads near Grindavik have been completely torn up by volcanic activity and an excavator was seen carrying out repairs today
The video shows cars lining up to briefly re-enter Grindavik so that residents can pick up their belongings. They had to drive over huge gaps in the road caused by seismic and volcanic activity
While the number of quakes has decreased and the tremors are less violent than in recent days, experts say this could indicate that magma is closer to the surface and that an eruption is imminent.
“Usually an eruption is preceded by less seismic activity because you’ve gotten so close to the surface that you can’t build up a lot of stress to trigger large earthquakes,” said Rikke Pedersen, head of the Reykjavik-based Nordic Volcanological Center.
“It should never be taken as a sign that an outbreak is not imminent,” she said.
A member of the emergency services walks near a crack along the main street in Grindavik
In case the worst happens, authorities are preparing to build defensive walls around a nearby geothermal power plant that they desperately hope will protect it from lava flows.
Iceland’s Justice Minister Gudrun Hafsteinsdottir told RUV on Tuesday that a large dike has been designed to protect the Svartsengi geothermal power plant, located just over six kilometers from Grindavik.
Equipment and materials capable of filling 20,000 trucks are being brought to the plant, she said, and construction is awaiting formal government approval.
The plant produces hot and cold water as well as electricity for the entire country and a spokesman for operator HS Orka said a disruption would have no impact on the capital Reykjavik’s power supply.
Matthew James Roberts, head of service and research at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, said: “We believe this intrusion is literally floating and is now in equilibrium just below the Earth’s surface.”
“We now have this enormous uncertainty. ‘Will there be an outbreak and if so, what damage will be caused?’
The Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, closed to tourists due to volcanic activity, with the Svartsengi geothermal power plant in the background (file image)
There are also growing fears that an eruption could result in a repeat of the chaos caused by the Eyjafjallajökull eruption in 2010. However, volcanologists said Fagradalsfjall would not produce as large an ash cloud as it did when it exploded.
The outbreak 13 years ago led to the biggest shutdown of global aviation since World War II. 50,000 flights were canceled and eight million passengers were affected.
Mr Roberts discussed the differences between a possible eruption of Fagradalsfjall and Eyjafjallajökull, saying an eruption could spray lava over the city but was less likely to trigger the same ash explosion.
He told BBC R4’s Today program on Monday: “Firstly, there is no ice cap on top and it is not a stratovolcano, so there would be no explosive explosion of volcanic ash into the atmosphere.”
“This would be a lava-producing volcanic eruption along a series of fissures, and that would be the greatest danger.”
He added that an outbreak that “lasts for weeks” was possible, meaning roads and other infrastructure could be “at risk.”