According to experts, a town in Iceland that houses 4,000 people could end up devastated by a volcanic eruption.
Volcanic Eruption Fears, Heightened Seismic Activity
The town of Grindavik, which is near the capital of Reykjavik, could end up sustaining severe damages in a matter of hours of days. Vidir Reynisson, who heads the Civil Protection and Emergency Management at Iceland, explains that the magma is not situated at shallow depths. Hence, a volcanic eruption is expected in as short as a couple of hours or in a couple of days.
On top of this, as many as 2,000 earthquakes struck the peninsula of Reykjanes. A thousand of these took place overnight on Saturday alone. These signal a heightened risk of volcanic eruption.
State of Emergency in Iceland
With this looming threat, Iceland declared that they are in a state of emergency. On top of this, as a response to the rising seismic activity, the Blue Lagoon was closed as part of precautionary efforts. The Blue Lagoon is known for its luxury hotels and geothermal spas.
The state of emergency was announced by the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management. The department cited the heightened seismic activity in the north of Grindavik, in Sundhnjukagigar.
According to the Department, it is not possible to save farm animals and livestock from the danger zone because of Reykjanes landslides. Humans also cannot enter the area until further notice.
According to the Icelanding Met Office (IMO), a volcanic eruption could take place in several days. Grindavik is located just 1.86 miles from the southwest of the epicenter of the earthquakes. It has then activated its evacuation plans with the looming threat of the potential volcanic eruption.
There were two strong earthquakes, with a 5.2 magnitude north of Grindavik, that were felt as far as Reykjavik and along the southern coast of the country. This led to great damage and shaking. The police closed a vital north-south road bound for Grindavik because of the damage caused by the earthquake.
The peninsula of Reykjanes has experienced 24,000 tremors since late October. The IMO was able to observe magma accumulation at a depth of roughly 3.1 miles. This raises a volcanic eruption specter if the magma were to reach the surface.
The Reykjanes peninsula has also seen three eruptions since 2021 after it remained dormant for many centuries. These eruptions took place in remote locations and did not threaten populated areas or critical infrastructure.
On top of this, the Svartsengi geothermal plant, which is a key water and electricity supplier to 30,000 residents in the peninsula, has implemented contingency plans to protect its workforce and the facility if an eruption were to take place.
Iceland contains 33 active volcanic systems, making the country a list-topper across Europe.
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