OAN’s Abril Elfi
4:19 PM – Saturday, November 18, 2023
Residents of a town in Iceland have been evacuated as warnings of a volcanic eruption emerge and cracks open across the main roads.
Roughly 3,400 residents were evacuated from Grindavik, Iceland on Saturday after they were permitted to re-enter their homes Thursday and Friday to acquire essential needs, as officials warn that a volcanic eruption is expected and earthquakes continue to tremble portions of the island.
Grindavik was first evacuated a week ago as magma rumbled beneath the earth, causing hundreds of earthquakes.
It has left a crack that has shoved the ground upward by 1 meter (3 feet) or more in certain areas.
According to the Icelandic Meteorological Office, there is a “significant likelihood” that an eruption will occur anywhere along the 9-mile magma conduit, with the “prime location” north of Grindavik near the Hagafell mountain.
The meteorological office reported 800 earthquakes registered overnight Wednesday, the majority of which occurred near a magma dyke in Sundhnk at a depth of 3 1.86 to 3.10 miles.
Furthermore, observations of deformation, changes in the shape of a volcanic landscape’s surface, are “consistent with magma still flowing into the dyke,” it noted.
Official’s say sulfur dioxide measurements revealed a “fluctuating degassing due to the magma dyke, but further measurements are needed for confirmation.”
The report states, since midnight Friday, 500 earthquakes have been reported around the dyke intrusion.
Models suggest a 9.32-mile magma intrusion immediately northwest of Grindavik, and it is anticipated that “the intrusion is propagating upwards slowly, with magma thought to be half a mile or higher, beneath the surface.”
According to reports, it’s likely to be months before it is safe for residents evacuated from the danger zone to go back to their homes.
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