More than 1,000 earthquakes were counted on Friday, and the magma tunnel, which has been active for weeks, is expected to continue expanding.
Iceland’s meteorological service believes an eruption of liquid rock from a magma tunnel in the southwest of the country, which has been active for weeks, is likely in the coming days. Such a scenario is most likely, Kristin Jónsdottir, head of the meteorological service’s volcanology department, told RUV radio on Friday. Geophysicist Benedikt Ovegsson said there are clear signs that the magma tunnel under the Reykjanes Peninsula is expanding.
The Meteorological Authority recorded about 1,000 earthquakes since midnight on Friday. RUV reported that ground deformation is progressing, but has slowed somewhat. The gas indicative of magma was measured near the Svartsinje power station north of the evacuated city of Grindavik.
Grindavik is located about 40 kilometers southwest of the capital, Reykjavik, and is threatened by a possible volcanic eruption for several days. Nearly 3,700 residents had to leave their homes a week ago because of a 15-kilometre-long magma tunnel extending under Grindavik to the sea floor. The nearby Blue Lagoon, one of Iceland’s most popular tourist attractions, had previously been closed. (APA/DPA)
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