All of Iceland is ‘on edge’ as experts say earthquakes rumbling beneath the surface for days and ripping through a city are a harbinger of a volcanic eruption.
More than 500 earthquakes were recorded on the southwestern Reykjanes Peninsula yesterday, and despite being slightly weaker than in previous days, Fagradalsfjall volcano is still expected to erupt.
Iceland has been shaken by thousands of tremors in recent days. A state of emergency was declared on Friday and around 4,000 people were ordered to leave the city of Grindavik.
Evacuated residents have reported feeling “seasick” from the tremors and hearing “unholy noises” coming from the ground as they fled their homes.
Huge sinkholes have sprung up around the city, and now dramatic aerial footage captured by the Coast Guard shows a gorge running through the center, with smoke pouring from the gaping fissures as magma rises.
Meanwhile, authorities are urgently preparing to build defensive walls around a nearby geothermal power plant, which they desperately hope will protect it from lava flows – amid concerns that a volcanic eruption is imminent.
Roads near Grindavik have been completely torn up due to the volcanic activity. Today an excavator was seen making repairs
Smoke has been seen pouring out of the fissures as volcanic activity continues beneath the surface
Due to volcanic activity, huge sinkholes have formed in a road near Grindavik
Mount Fagradalsfjall volcano spews lava after erupting on July 16, 2023
“We believe this intruder is literally floating and is now poised just beneath the Earth’s surface,” said Matthew James Roberts, director of the meteorological agency’s service and research division.
‘We now have enormous uncertainty. Will there be an eruption and if so, what damage will be caused?’ he said.
Magma has built up beneath the city and experts said yesterday that a ‘corridor’ about fourteen kilometers long has developed beneath it, with an eruption possible anywhere along the intrusion.
Local media reported that seismic activity overnight was similar to the day before, with “about a hundred tremors per hour.”
Most were small, but the largest were 3.1 and 2.8 in size, respectively Visir.is.
Hans Vera, a Belgian-born 56-year-old who has lived in Iceland since 1999, said his family’s house was constantly shaking.
“You would never be stable, it was always shaking, so there was no way to sleep,” said Vera, who is now staying at his sister-in-law’s house in a Reykjavik suburb.
“It’s not just the people of Grindavik who are shocked by this situation, it’s the whole of Iceland.”
A car drives towards a crack in a road in the town of Grindavik, Iceland on Monday, November 13
A resident of the town of Grindavik, Iceland, removes some of her belongings from her home after being ordered to evacuate
Residents of Grindavik were briefly allowed to return to their homes on Monday after being told to evacuate on Saturday
Dramatic aerial footage taken by the Coast Guard shows a gorge running through the center of the city
Huge cracks have appeared in the roads and around houses in Grindavik as magma builds up beneath the surface
“We are really concerned about all the houses and infrastructure in the area,” Vidir Reynisson, head of Iceland’s Civil Protection and Emergency Management, said earlier this week.
“The magma is now at a very shallow depth, so we expect an eruption within a few hours at the very least, but at least within a few days.”
Icelanders are “essentially just waiting,” local journalist Holmfridur Gisladottir told Sky News on Monday.
A threatened eruption has revived the trauma of the 2010 explosion at another Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajokull, for many locals.
It produced a massive ash cloud that led to the biggest shutdown of global aviation since World War II, with 50,000 flights canceled and eight million passengers affected.
A sign from the village of Grindavik, which had to be evacuated due to volcanic activity
Roads were closed as large cracks developed due to tremors, amid increasing seismic and volcanic activity
In the southwestern city, roads have been destroyed and 4,000 people have been evacuated after earthquakes
Discussing the differences between a possible eruption of Fagradalsfjall and Eyjafjallajokull, Mr Roberts said an eruption could spew lava over the city, but was less likely to trigger the same ash explosion.
He told BBC R4’s Today program on Monday: ‘First of all, there is no ice sheet on top and it is not a stratovolcano, so there would be no explosive explosion of volcanic ash in the atmosphere.
“This would be a lava-producing volcanic eruption along a series of fissures and that would pose the greatest danger.”
He added that an eruption “lasting for weeks” was possible, meaning roads and other infrastructure “could be at risk.”
The cracks have been exacerbated by ongoing volcanic and seismic activity around Grindavik. Photo taken on November 13
On November 11, large cracks appear in a road amid volcanic activity near Grindavik, Iceland
In March 2021, lava fountains erupted spectacularly from a fissure in the ground 500 to 750 meters long in the region’s Fagradalsfjall volcanic system.
Volcanic activity in the area lasted for six months that year, prompting thousands of Icelanders and tourists to visit the scene.
A three-week eruption occurred in the same area in August 2022, followed by another in July this year.