The Reykjanes peninsula in southwest Iceland has been preparing for a volcanic eruption for days. Over the weekend, cracks appeared in the earth and steam is pouring out of the earth from deep down. The Icelandic Meteorological Office warns of a “significant risk” of an eruption in the coming days, citing the town of Grindavik – which was fully evacuated on Friday – as the most likely location.
Grindavik has a population of about 3,000 and is located about 26 miles southwest of Reykjavík, the capital of Iceland. Little has changed since the start of this week in the overall assessment of the burgeoning volcano, which the Met Office said could erupt on a “time scale of days”. Around 1,200 earthquakes were recorded between 12 and 2 p.m. local time on Thursday. Magma is still thought to be at a depth of around 2,500ft below the surface, but an update from the Met Office warns that “the intrusion is slowly spreading upwards”.
The land sank up to 5 feet west of Grindavik and rose up to 3 feet to the east. There are indications that this upcoming eruption could contain “significantly” more magma than previous similar eruptions in the past two years.
For now, officials continue to wait anxiously.