Grindavik at Risk of ‘Crack Collapse’ With Lava Pouring From Fissures After Volcanic Eruption in Iceland

(Photo: Wikimedia Commons/Giles Laurent)
Grindavik at Risk of 'Crack Collapse' With Lava Pouring From Fissures After Volcanic Eruption in Iceland

A town in Iceland, Grivandik, could collapse following a volcanic eruption. The lava pouring from fissures that opened at the edge of the town set fire to several houses.

Grivandik in Iceland Could Collapse

A volcanic eruption on Jan. 14 has since halted. However, its aftermath is putting the town of Grivandik in danger. Cracks continue to be considered to carry a very high risk. This risk, currently known as "crack collapse," arises when fissures are concealed behind an unstable surface that could collapse, according to a translated statement released Thursday by the Icelandic Met Office (IMO). According to current estimates, there is a significant risk from crack motions.

The most recent eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula was the fifth since 2021 and the second in the previous month. While lava flowed straight into Grindavík during the January eruption, the December eruption occurred around 2.5 miles from the town. Just before the volcano started erupting again on January 13, the approximately 4,000 people of Grindavík were evacuated.

"Iceland is sitting on the boundary between two tectonic plates - the Eurasian and North American plates, which are moving apart from each other. This drives melting of the mantle to create magma which eventually makes its way to the earth's surface to cause an eruption," Chris Firth, a volcano researcher at Macquarie University in Australia,

"But it also explains how the location of the eruptions can move. The boundary between the plates creates a rift that magma can use to get to the surface. In this case, the magma has also been moving along the rift, rather than just moving vertically to the earth's surface. The current eruption is probably part of a wider series of linked eruptions that began in 2021 with the eruptions of Fagradalsfjall."

Now, the "crack collapse" might happen in parts of the town where the earth is already shaky, which might cause the surface to collapse. Furthermore, given the rate at which the ground buckles due to magma building in the chamber underneath it, another eruption might not be far off.

Land has risen as much as 8 mm per day recently, marginally quicker than recorded before the eruption on Jan. 14. How much magma has accumulated since the eruption ended on Jan. 16 is difficult to estimate now. Weeks, not days, are probably how long it will take to reach the same magma level as before the last eruption.

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Dormant Faultline in Iceland Has Awakened

A volcanic eruption that destroyed homes in Grindavik, a fishing port in Iceland, over the weekend, that a long-dormant faultline running beneath the nation has sparked, posing a threat to spew lava for years to come with little warning.

The latest event of plate separation might extend for several years or even decades, according to French volcanologist Patrick Allard of the Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris. This is after eight centuries of a relative pause and a total cessation of surface activity.

With the eruption, incandescent lava completely consumed several residences southwest of Reykjavik's city, Grindavik. The North Atlantic nation's authorities reported that the threat of an eruption primarily prompted last month's evacuation of the fishing community. Volcanic activity has reduced in the recent past since then.