According to the AP agency, the approximately 3,400 residents of Grindavik, located on the Reykjanes Peninsula, about 50 kilometers from the capital Reykjavik, are only allowed to return to their homes for five minutes, time to remove pets and belongings. valuable.
It is not yet known whether the volcano will erupt, but even if it does not, authorities have already warned that it will be months before it is safe to return to the city, which had to be evacuated on the 11th, after recording hundreds of earthquakes caused by the buildup of magma beneath the Earth’s crater, an indicator of a volcanic eruption.
Several houses and infrastructure in the city were severely damaged.
According to today’s bulletin from the Icelandic Meteorological Service, seismic activity remains “high and constant” and there is a “significant chance” of an eruption somewhere in the 15-kilometer-long tunnel of accumulated magma, possibly in northern Grindavik, near Hagafell . mountain.
The Icelandic Prime Minister stressed today that “no country is as well prepared for natural disasters as Iceland”.
“We have a long experience with volcanic eruptions,” Katrín Jakobsdóttir emphasized at a press conference.
“Our main priority is to continue to welcome people [que tiveram de abandonar Grindavík]ensure they receive an adequate salary and find suitable housing for the coming weeks or months,” he expected.
“It is clear that this period of uncertainty will continue for some time,” emphasizes the minister, who has already submitted a bill to parliament to guarantee the salaries of Grindavík residents for the next three months.
The volcanic system on the Reykjanes Peninsula has erupted three times since 2021, after being dormant for 800 years, but the previous events occurred in remote valleys and caused no damage.
Iceland is located in a place of high volcanic hazard, in the North Atlantic Ocean, and experiences an eruption every four to five years on average.
The most significant occurred in 2010, when the Eyjafjallajokull volcano produced massive ash clouds that affected the skies and flights across Europe for days.
Source: DN
