After recording tens of thousands of earthquakes since the end of October on the Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland entered a state of emergency this Friday to avoid a possible volcanic eruption, which would be the fourth since March 2021. The decision was made by the head of the national police. report in that country and disseminated by the Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management.
The basis for the decision is the “intense seismic activity” recorded in Sundhnjukagigar, north of Grindavik, which is feared could intensify compared to what was recorded and culminate in a volcanic eruption “in the coming days,” warned the Icelandic Meteorological Center. (IMO). This Friday’s earthquakes are concentrated in an area three kilometers southwest of Grindavik, a city with a population of four thousand people that already has evacuation plans prepared in case of an eruption.
At the end of the afternoon, two earthquakes of greater intensity were felt in the Icelandic capital, Reykjavík, already 40 kilometers away, and along much of the country’s southern coast. IMO data points to a magnitude of 5.2 and police were forced to close a road leading to Grindavik, such was the damage.
In total, more than 24,000 earthquakes have been recorded on the peninsula since the end of October, with special attention to a “dense spot” of almost 800 earthquakes recorded between midnight and early afternoon this Friday. In addition, the IMO observed an accumulation of magma at a depth of five kilometers and, if it begins to rise to the surface, it could cause a volcanic eruption.
“The most likely scenario is that it will take several days, not hours, for the magma to reach the surface. If a fissure were to appear where seismic activity is now most intense, the lava would move to the southwest and west, but not towards Grindavik”, guaranteed IMO officials quoted by Agence France-Presse.
The country’s Civil Protection has already sent a boat to the Grindavik area for “security reasons” and emergency shelters and support centers are scheduled to open at the end of this Friday.
Tourist attractions in the region have closed and the Svartsengi geothermal power plant has already adopted a contingency plan to protect the supply of water and electricity to the 30,000 people it serves, while ensuring the safety of workers.
Source: TSF
