More than 1,000 earthquakes were counted on Friday, and the magma tunnel, which has been active for weeks, is expected to continue to expand.
Iceland’s meteorological service considers an eruption of liquid rock from the magma tunnel in the country’s southwest, which has been active for weeks, likely in the coming days. Such a scenario is the most likely, the head of the meteorological service’s volcanism department, Kristín Jónsdóttir, told broadcaster RUV on Friday. Geophysicist Benedikt Ófeigsson said there are clear signs that the magma tunnel beneath the Reykjanes Peninsula is expanding.
The weather service has recorded about 1,000 earthquakes since midnight Friday. Soil deformation is progressing, but has slowed down somewhat, RUV reported. Magma indicator gas was measured near the Svartsengi power plant, north of the evacuated city of Grindavík.
Grindavík is located about 40 kilometers southwest of the capital Reykjavik and has been threatened by a possible volcanic eruption for days. The approximately 3,700 residents had to abandon their homes a week ago because a 15-kilometer-long magma tunnel runs beneath Grindavík to the bottom of the sea. The nearby Blue Lagoon, one of Iceland’s most famous tourist attractions, had already been closed. (APA/dpa)