Iceland has 33 lively volcanic methods, the very best quantity in Europe, and hundreds of tremors have been recorded for the reason that finish of October.
Authorities in Iceland have declared a state of emergency after a sequence of earthquakes rocked the Reykjanes peninsula within the south-west of the nation, elevating fears of a volcanic eruption within the area.
“The head of the national police force (…) has declared a state of emergency for civil defence due to intense seismic activity in Sundhnjukagigar, north of Grindavik,” the civil defence authority mentioned in a press release late Friday.
“The earthquakes may become more significant” and “this series of events could lead to an eruption”, the administration warned.
According to the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO), an eruption may happen “within a few days”.
Town of Grindavik being evacuated
Evacuation plans have been put in place for the city of Grindavik, with a inhabitants of round 4,000, situated three kilometres south-west of the world the place the seismic swarm was recorded on Friday.
The civil safety authority additionally introduced that it was sending the Thor patrol boat to Grindavik “for safety purposes”.
On Thursday, the Blue Lagoon, a vacationer website close to Grindavik well-known for its geothermal spas, was closed as a precaution.
Friday night earthquakes
Early on Friday night two earthquakes, the strongest of which had a magnitude of 5.2 based on the IMO’s preliminary assessments, had been felt as far-off because the capital Reykjavik, some forty kilometres away, and alongside a big half of the nation’s southern coast.
Some 24,000 tremors have been recorded on the peninsula for the reason that finish of October, based on the IMO, with a “dense swarm” of virtually 800 earthquakes recorded between midnight and 14:00 GMT on Friday.
The IMO famous an accumulation of magma at a depth of 5 kilometres, which, if delivered to the floor, would set off a volcanic eruption.
Since 2021, three eruptions have taken place on the Reykjanes peninsula, in March 2021, August 2022 and July 2023, all removed from infrastructure or populated areas.
Iceland has 33 lively volcanic methods, the very best quantity in Europe.
During its final eruption in 2010, Eyjafjallajökull blocked European skies and led to the cancellation of 100,000 flights, with ten million passengers stranded.