Since midnight more than 500 earthquakes have struck the Reykjanes peninsula in south-west Iceland, weaker than in the last two days. However, a 15 km long magma river remains active under the peninsula, threatening the evacuated town of Grindavik, on Monday, the 13th of November, reports the BBC.
Cracks have appeared in the roads of Grindavik, which is just 15 km south of Keflavik international airport.
Huge cracks have opened up on the Grindavík golf course in #Iceland due to the many earthquakes they have had….?
? Ragnar Visage pic.twitter.com/2RUK8mwpZH
— Volcaholic ? (@volcaholic1) November 11, 2023
Flights are still operating at the airport despite travellers’ fears of disruption similar to the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull. The 2010 eruption caused a week of chaos in the European air transport sector, with more than 50 000 flights cancelled due to the ash cloud, but there are currently no signs of similar air pollution.
Residents forced to leave Grindavik expressed fears that they would never return home because of the constant earthquakes. One resident described the situation to the AP news agency as “grim” and spoke of the sudden evacuation on Friday due to the continuous and strong earthquakes, that shook up the whole house.
Thousands of tremors have been recorded in the southern Reykjanes peninsula
in recent weeks, mainly in the vicinity of the Fagradalsfjall volcano.
The area, which was inactive for 800 years before erupting in 2021, is at significant risk of another eruption, which is why Iceland has declared a state of emergency.
Thor Thordason, professor of volcanology at the University of Iceland, told the BBC that magma is currently less than 800 metres below the surface and experts, including a professor, say an eruption seems imminent and that Grindavik is on the eruption side.
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