Icelandic town evacuated over volcano fears

Icelandic town evacuated over volcano fears
Icelandic town evacuated over volcano fears

Hello and welcome to the details of Icelandic town evacuated over volcano fears and now with the details

Nevin Al Sukari - Sana'a - File photo of the red shimmer from magma flowing out from the erupting Fagradalsfjall volcano behind the landmark Blue Lagoon, some 45 km west of the Icelandic capital Reykjavik, on March 19, 2021. ― AFP pic

REYKJAVIK, Iceland, Nov 11 ― An Icelandic town near the capital Reykjavik and home to some 4,000 people was evacuated overnight after hundreds of tremors caused fears of a volcanic eruption, authorities said today.

Iceland declared a state of emergency yesterday after a series of powerful earthquakes rocked the country’s southwestern Reykjanes peninsula, in what could be a precursor to a volcanic eruption near Sundhnjukagigar, some three kilometres north of the town of Grindavik.

The town ― around 40 kilometres southwest of Reykjavik ― is located near the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa resort, a popular tourist destination which closed temporarily earlier this week as a precaution.

Grindavik is also near the Svartsengi geothermal plant, the main supplier of electricity and water to 30,000 residents on the Reykjanes peninsula.

Advertisement

Iceland has 33 active volcanic systems, the highest number in Europe.

The Icelandic Met Office had initially said that an eruption would most likely take place “in several days rather than hours”, as magma had been observed accumulating under the Earth’s surface at a depth of about five kilometres for several days.

But late yesterday it noted that seismic activity was moving closer to the surface and magma was beginning to rise vertically toward the Earth’s crust between Sundhnjukagigar and Grindavik ― suggesting an eruption could come sooner.

Advertisement

Authorities decided to evacuate Grindavik after the Met Office said there was a “likelihood that a magma intrusion has extended beneath Grindavik.”

“At this stage, it is not possible to determine exactly whether and where magma might reach the surface,” it said.

However, it noted that “the amount of magma involved is significantly more than what was observed in the largest magma intrusions associated with the eruptions at Fagradalsfjall”.

Three eruptions have taken place near Fagradalsfjall on the Reykjanes peninsula, in March 2021, August 2022 and July 2023 ― all far from any infrastructure or populated areas.

The Met Office said that 500 earthquakes had been registered in the area between 1800 GMT yesterday and 0600 GMT today, including 14 over a magnitude of 4.0.

Iceland straddles the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a crack in the ocean floor separating the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates. ― AFP

These were the details of the news Icelandic town evacuated over volcano fears for this day. We hope that we have succeeded by giving you the full details and information. To follow all our news, you can subscribe to the alerts system or to one of our different systems to provide you with all that is new.

It is also worth noting that the original news has been published and is available at Malay Mail and the editorial team at AlKhaleej Today has confirmed it and it has been modified, and it may have been completely transferred or quoted from it and you can read and follow this news from its main source.

PREV Prosecutors urge judge not to toss out Trump’s hush money conviction, pushing back on immunity claim
NEXT US military raises alert level for Europe bases: reports

Author Information

I am Joshua Kelly and I focus on breaking news stories and ensuring we (“Al-KhaleejToday.NET”) offer timely reporting on some of the most recent stories released through market wires about “Services” sector. I have formerly spent over 3 years as a trader in U.S. Stock Market and is now semi-stepped down. I work on a full time basis for Al-KhaleejToday.NET specializing in quicker moving active shares with a short term view on investment opportunities and trends. Address: 838 Emily Drive Hampton, SC 29924, USA Phone: (+1) 803-887-5567 Email: [email protected]