According to information from the Icelandic meteorological and geological agency, Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO), on Friday, the magma in the volcanic tunnel under the peninsula has probably already risen to a level of 800 meters below the Earth’s surface – and continues to rise. rise slowly.
Geophysical models showed a magma collapse about 15 kilometers northwest of Grindavik. The probability of an eruption is high and the deadline for this is a few days. The IMO reported on Friday morning that 500 earthquakes had been recorded since midnight, and on Thursday there were 800. Seismic activity was constant, the authority wrote, but the current heightened alert level remained in effect.
Huge cracks in the earth
Signs of an imminent volcanic eruption on the peninsula, not far from the Icelandic capital, Reykjavik, began to emerge in late October with increased seismic activity, followed by thousands of earthquakes of varying intensity.
Portal/Rua Marko Djurica in Grindavik “swallowed” by the volcano
On Friday, the BBC released a video taken from a helicopter over Grindavik. It showed huge cracks in the earth from which steam rose and deserted city streets. According to IMO, the concentration of sulfur dioxide (SO2) in the air has increased. Finally, the residents of the fishing settlement were allowed to briefly return to their homes to get the most necessary things. Grindavik, which is about 40 kilometers southwest of Reykjavik, was evacuated last Saturday night due to imminent danger, as was the Blue Lagoon, a natural thermal lake very popular with tourists.
Beginning of a volcanic cycle?
According to IMO, there has been silence for a long time under the Reykjanes peninsula, but the current volcanic activity may be more than a short episode. What has already started in 2021 could evolve into an “eruptive cycle”, that is, a series of volcanic eruptions, according to Matthew Roberts, one of the IMO’s managing directors – which could last decades.
“We expect volcanic eruptions all along the peninsula,” he said, according to the BBC, on Friday, “and not just repeatedly in the same region.” IMO monitors seismic activity in the regions 24 hours a day. The magma tunnel was discovered a week ago, on Friday. Roberts made a comparison to an “underground freight train,” according to the BBC.
Suddenly a ghost town
Shortly after the city was evacuated, cracks began to appear in the streets and a series of earthquakes damaged houses. The western part of the community, which has about 3,700 residents, dropped more than a meter in a week and continues to increase by a few centimeters a day.
Portal/Marko Djurica Road closures imminent due to volcanic danger
Geophysical maps showed spots with “highly volatile” data where an eruption would not occur for days or weeks, the BBC reported on Friday, following a site inspection at the IMO. Aerial photographs suggested that magma flows into a centuries-old crack underground.
Troubled island
Volcanic activity and earthquakes are relatively common in Iceland. The Nordic island’s landscape is characterized by volcanoes, hot springs, geysers and lava fields. The tectonically active Mid-Atlantic Ridge runs along the ocean floor.
Just in July, a fissured volcano erupted near the Litli-Hrutur mountain on the Reykjanes peninsula, lava escaped and earthquakes with a magnitude greater than 5.0 on the Richter scale shook the region. In 2021 there were also eruptions in the volcanic area near the Icelandic capital.
Eyjafjallajökull paralyzed air traffic in 2010
However: Although Reykjavik is the island’s main metropolitan area, with almost 390,000 inhabitants, relatively few people live on the Reykjanes Peninsula. Keflavik Airport was not affected by the recent volcanic eruptions. Things looked completely different in the spring of 2010. The eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcanic glacier caused international air traffic chaos for days.
Portal/Ingolfur Juliusson Eyjafjallajökull continually sent dark clouds of ash into the sky
But the current situation is not entirely common either: according to the BBB, an evacuation operation like the one in Grindavik has not been carried out for 50 years. In 1973, the Eldfell volcano erupted on the island of Heimaey, south of Iceland. The city of the same name and the entire island, which at the time had a population of just under 5,000, had to be evacuated. After the eruption, Eldfell remained quiet until today.
Unclear perspective
It is unknown when peace will return to the Reykjanes Peninsula. Residents of Grindavik would have to wait “at least” a few weeks until it becomes clear whether the underground lava flow will calm down again and they can then return to the city.
APA/AFP/Halldor Kolbeins The Lagoa Azul thermal lake was also closed
IMO does not expect a sudden, “explosive” eruption, Director General Roberts said. But this also has its dark side. A slow eruption could mean that lava repeatedly emerges from fissures over a period of weeks. In this case, lava could flow towards Grindavik, the Blue Lagoon and the Svartsengi geothermal power plant. The lagoon will remain permanently closed until the end of November, the “Iceland Review” (online edition) reported on Friday.
“Nature always wins”
The plant will be protected from lava by a five-kilometer-long dam. The largest excavator available in Iceland, weighing more than 100 tonnes, has been brought to the peninsula to build the barrier, it was said on Thursday.
According to the Iceland Monitor newspaper, SO2 was detected in a hole at the Svartsengi geothermal power plant. This confirms assumptions about the movement of the lava flow. Iceland has developed – after long experience – all possible techniques to protect itself as much as possible from its volcanoes, Roberts said on the BBC. “But nature always wins if an eruption lasts long enough.”