After a four-week lull, a volcano on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula has roared back to life, triggering a series of earthquakes and opening new fissures near the town of GrindavĂk, according to the Icelandic Met Office (IMO) on Sunday.
Like the earlier eruption, this one was preceded by a series of earthquakes that began around 3 a.m. in the SundhnĂşksgĂgar area and then toward GrindavĂk. At 8 a.m., a new fissure opened at the southeast of the Hagafell mountain, spewing lava. At around noon, another lava-spewing fissure opened, this time just north of GrindavĂk, spreading lava into town where it engulfed entire homes.
IMO’s analysis of seismicity and ground deformation data suggests that a magma dike beneath the Reykjanes Peninsula has reached GrindavĂk, potentially reactivating existing faults and fractures, and creating new fissures. Experts also warn that additional fissures may open in the days ahead as magma continues to feed the dike.
Ăžorvaldur ÞórĂ°arson, a volcanology and petrology professor at the Icelandic University, notes a shift in eruptive activity towards GrindavĂk, presenting two ominous scenarios. The first scenario entails the continuation of activity in the lower fissure, causing lava to flow towards the town. The second, more concerning scenario, involves an escalation in the upper fissure’s eruption.
“It seems to me that the fissure is always getting longer,” ÞórĂ°arson said. “The situation has unfortunately become very bleak for GrindavĂk.”
Patrick Allard, a volcanologist from France’s Institut de Physique du Globe de Paris told AFP that the eruption confirms that a long-dormant faultline, which he also described as fragile, has woken up. The eruption on Sunday is the fifth in the Reykjanes peninsula since March 2021. Before these eruptions, the area had not seen one in centuries.
“After eight centuries of a relative break and a complete cessation of surface activity, we have entered a new episode of plate separation which could last several years – possibly decades,” Allard said. He added that GrindavĂk was built on lava flows from the last eruptions 800 years ago.
The location of the faultline also endangers the Svartsengi geothermal plant, the source of both electricity and water to 30,000 people living in the Reykjanes peninsula, a tenth of the country’s population.
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