Iceland braces for volcanic eruption as earthquakes prompt mass evacuations

Some 900 earthquakes have been recorded in southern Iceland this Monday, adding to tens of thousands of tremors that have rattled the region in recent weeks as the country braces for what could become a significant volcanic eruption.

File photo: Lava spurts and flows after the eruption of a volcano in the Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland, July 12, 2023, as seen in this handout picture taken from a Coast Guard helicopter. © Reuters/Protection civile d'Islande

This comes as almost 4,000 people were evacuated at the weekend as authorities feared that molten rock would rise to the surface of the earth and potentially hit a coastal town and a geothermal power station.

According to Matthew James Roberts, director of the service and research division at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, "We have this tremendous uncertainty now; will there be an eruption and if so, what sort of damage will occur."

Inhabitants of the town of Grindavik described being whisked from their homes in the early hours of Saturday as the ground shook, roads cracked and buildings suffered structural damage.

Significant likelihood of a volcanic eruption in the coming days. Models show a 15-km long magma intrusion, located just northwest of Grindavík. A hazard area has been defined based on the location of the dike, as shown in the map. https://t.co/9vYBBjNcX9 pic.twitter.com/m6SyMVkmer

— Veðurstofa Íslands / Icelandic Met Office (@Vedurstofan) November 11, 2023

Evacuation

Almost all of the town's 3,800 inhabitants had been able to find accommodation with family members or friends, and only a between 50 and 70 people were staying at evacuation centres, a rescue official said.

Some evacuees were briefly allowed back into the town on Sunday to collect belongings such as documents, medicines or pets, but were not allowed to drive themselves.

"You have to park your car five kilometres from town and there's 20 cars, huge cars from the rescue team, 20 policemen, all blinking lights, it's just unreal, it's like a war zone or something, it's really strange," said one evacuee.

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Volcanic 'hot spot'

The Reykjanes peninsula is a volcanic and seismic hot spot southwest of the capital.

In March 2021, lava fountains erupted spectacularly from a fissure in the ground measuring between 500 750 metres long in the region's Fagradalsfjall volcanic system.

Volcanic activity in the area continued for six months that year, prompting thousands of Icelanders and tourists to visit the scene.

In August 2022, a three-week eruption happened in the same area, followed by another in July of this year.