Reykjavik. The Iceland Meteorological Office (IMO) has issued a warning that Iceland’s southwestern peninsula may face decades of volcanic instability. After an 800-year hiatus, eruptions on the Reykjanes Peninsula began again in 2021, marking a new eruption cycle, IMO official Matthew Roberts says.
He said the town of Grindavik had to be evacuated due to fears of an earthquake and an imminent explosion. Dr. Roberts says that the staff here closely monitors seismic activity 24 hours a day. Last Friday, the team was shocked to learn that magma was flowing underground, breaking the rock for a distance of 15 km (nine miles).
He told that orders were given to vacate this place immediately. The western part of Grindavik has sunk by more than a meter (3.3 ft) since last Friday, at a rate of about 4 cm (1.6 in) per day. A low-intensity eruption can mean lava flowing from a series of fissures for several weeks.
