Important Takeaways:
- Magma erupted from craters around Iceland’s Blue Lagoon resort on Tuesday morning, forcing its evacuation and those of settlements nearby, after the volcanic island’s seismologists recorded an “earthquake swarm” earlier in the day.
- The community, located on the Reykjanes Peninsula, was largely evacuated a year ago when the volcano came to life after lying dormant for 800 years.
- “The fissure is now about 500 meters (547 yards) long and has reached through the protective barrier north of Grindavík,” Iceland’s Met Office said in a statement. “The fissure continues to grow, and it cannot be ruled out that it may continue to open further south.”
- The earthquake swarm began at 6:30 a.m. local time on the Sundhnúks Crater Row, Iceland’s Meteorological Office said.
- “The swarm is between Sýlingarfell and Stóra-Skógfell, in a similar area seen prior to previous eruptions,” the office said, adding that it was “followed by a clear change in deformation and pressure changes in boreholes.”
- “Both independent measurements were a clear sign of the onset of a magma intrusion,” the office said.
- Jóhanna Malen Skúladóttir, a natural hazards specialist at Iceland’s Meteorological Office, told Visir they were monitoring the situation and it “looks like an eruption is starting.”
- “A lot of magma has accumulated in the magma chamber and there is, for example, more seismic activity now than before the last eruption. It could be that she is trying to find a new place to come up,” Skúladóttir told the publication.
- Iceland’s Meteorological Office had warned in the morning: “No magma has reached the surface as of now, but an eruption is likely to occur.”
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Important Takeaways:
- One of Iceland’s largest volcanoes is on the brink of erupting, experts have warned.
- Bárðarbunga – the second-largest volcano in the country – has been hit with a swarm of 130 earthquakes within just five hours.
- This is a key sign an eruption could be imminent, according to The Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO).
- As a precaution, the aviation color-code for Bárðarbunga has been raised from green to yellow, indicating ‘heightened activity above normal background levels’.
- Bárðarbunga – located under Iceland’s largest ice cap (Vatnajökull) in the center of the country – last erupted a decade ago, prompting a red travel alert.
- Earthquake activity has been increasing gradually in Bárðarbunga over recent months and four earthquakes measuring magnitude 5 or higher were detected in 2024, the department added.
- In the past four years, the Icelandic volcanoes of Fagradalsfjall and Sundhnúkur have hit the headlines for consistent eruptions, although these are further southwest, closer to capital city Reykjavík.
- Many of these eruptions were preceded by earthquakes with magnitudes somewhere between five and six.
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Important Takeaways:
- A volcano near Iceland’s capital erupted on Wednesday night, becoming the seventh such event in the area since December.
- The length of the fissure on the volcano, located in Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula in the southwest of the country, is estimated to be approximately 3 kilometers (1.9 miles), according to the Icelandic Met Office.
- The eruption began shortly after 11 p.m. local time Wednesday, with a Met Office update three hours later saying the fissure seemed to have stopped expanding.
- Air traffic to and from Iceland was operating normally on Thursday, according to Iceland’s official tourism website, which said the eruption was significantly smaller than the last one, which occurred in the area on August 22, when a 4-kilometer (2.5-mile) fissure opened.
- A geothermal power plant and the two hotels at the world-famous Blue Lagoon were evacuated. The Blue Lagoon has been repeatedly forced to close due to volcanic activity over the past year.
- “The eruption is in the same place as the last one in August this year. The town of Grindavík is not threatened by lava flow,” Snorri Valsson, a spokesperson for the Icelandic Tourist Board, told CNN on Thursday.
- “This was expected. The few people… 60 people… in town have been evacuated, as well as the Svartsengi Power Plant and the two hotels at the Blue Lagoon – the Blue Lagoon itself was empty at the time, as it started after closing hours.”
- Since January 2020, there have been 10 eruptions on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula.
- Iceland has a population of nearly 400,000 and is one of the world’s most active volcanic areas. It lies on the constantly active geologic border between North America and Europe. Last year, Iceland experienced more than 1,000 earthquakes in a 24-hour period.
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Important Takeaways:
- Iceland’s Meteorological Office said the eruption began overnight, with a nearly 2-mile fissure opening up in the Earth and pouring out lava.
- Sunday’s eruption is believed to be the largest of the four
- There have been no confirmed deaths from the four eruptions, though one worker has been declared missing after reportedly falling into a volcanic fissure.
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Important Takeaways:
- Iceland volcano erupts for second time this year with lava close to power plant
- Eruption in Reykjanes peninsula disrupts hot water supply for 20,000 people as lava edges closer to Svartsengi power plant
- A volcano in Iceland has erupted for the second time this year and the third time since December, pumping lava up to 80 meters (260ft) into the air and disrupting life in the Reykjanes peninsula in the south-west of the country.
- Fountains of bright orange molten rock spewed from cracks in the ground and lava crossed a road near the Blue Lagoon, a luxury geothermal spa, which had closed on Thursday.
- The lava flow also hit thermal-based water pipes in the region just south of the capital, Reykjavík, disrupting the supply of hot water to more than 20,000 people and leading the Civil Protection Agency to raise its alert level to emergency status.
- The agency also asked households and businesses to conserve electricity. Restoring hot water via an emergency pipeline that was already under construction could take days, it said.
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Important Takeaways:
- Lava flows into the Icelandic town of Grindavik appeared to be slowing, authorities said Monday, after several houses were destroyed by fires.
- A volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula erupted in the early hours of Sunday, spilling lava into the fishing town.
- Defenses built after an eruption in December have partially contained the lava, but some have been breached.
- The Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) said the barriers had been breached in some places, allowing lava to reach the town which then set houses and buildings on fire.
- Volcanologist Evgenia Ilyinskaya told BBC Breakfast that the peninsula was likely entering a period of frequent eruptions, known as the New Reykjanes Fires.
- Prof Ilyinskaya said eruptions could take place “every few months or once a year for several decades or several centuries.”
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Important Takeaways:
- Huge danger that volcanic fissures could tear apart Icelandic town without warning, local experts fear as tourists rush to cancel trips to the country and stunning new images of lava flows emerge
- Iceland’s ongoing volcanic eruption could see new fissures open up and rip apart the nearby town of Grindavik, experts have warned, as the area remains on high alert amid uncertainty around what the coming days will bring.
- The eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula, which began on Monday night, signals a heightened risk of volcanic fissures opening without warning inside the fishing town – which is home to some 4,000 people and was evacuated after it began to be shaken by earthquakes weeks ago.
- Tens of thousands of tremors have been recorded around Grindavik since a ‘seismic swarm’ first rattled the region in late October, with the Fagradalsfjall volcano threatening for weeks to erupt before Monday’s explosion at Sundhnúkagíga, which has unleashed a much larger flow than any seen in recent years.
- With a huge magma tunnel stretching beneath Grindavik fissures could still open without warning, geophysicist Benedikt Ófeigsson told Icelandic news outlet DV.
- Experts are due to meet to assess the ongoing situation on Wednesday morning after an update last night that the eruption has been weakening.
- The volcano has been spewing enough lava to fill an Olympic swimming pool every 20 seconds, an expert said on Tuesday.
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Important Takeaways:
- Iceland Volcano Update: Eruption Map, Experts’ Views ‘Completely Changed’
- In an update on Tuesday, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said that the Reykjanes Peninsula—where an eruption was thought likely after a burst of seismic activity from November 10—would be subject to increased monitoring and more experts drafted in to help.
- On Wednesday, the Icelandic Met Office said the ground around Svartsengi “continues to inflate,” meaning “further dikes or an eruption remain possible.” While the area the previous dike formed is anticipated to be the most likely area of eruption, experts have not been able to discount the possibility that magma propagates elsewhere in the region.
- Between 1,500 and 1,800 earthquakes a day were being recorded from November 10 for nearly two weeks, before dropping to the low hundreds. Between 200-300 earthquakes have been registered a day in the past two days, while the Icelandic Met Office said as of 6:15 a.m. ET on Wednesday there had so far been a hundred.
- While the intense seismic activity around the vertical dike appears to have subsided for the time being, the continued flow of lava into the horizontal intrusion means another could form, or more magma flow into the dike, without warning.
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Important Takeaways:
- Iceland Volcano Update: Eruption-Making Magma Shift May Be ‘Days’ Away
- Another upward shift of magma through the Earth’s crust under Iceland that has the potential to cause an eruption “could happen in the next few days or possibly after several months,” as officials have expressed “considerable” uncertainty as to when the next volcanic episode might occur.
- Last week, a decline in the number and severity of earthquakes around the magma intrusion led it to conclude that an eruption from the episode was less likely but still possible. However, experts have warned that volcanic activity in the region could pick up again.
- Between 1,500 and 1,800 earthquakes a day were being recorded from November 10 for nearly two weeks, before dropping to the low hundreds.
- The earthquakes have mostly occurred over and around the site of the magma dike—which is estimated to be around 9.3 miles long and runs alongside the coastal fishing town of Grindavik, on a southwesterly peninsula on Iceland’s main island.
- A sudden shift in the North American tectonic plate away from the Eurasian plate is thought to have allowed magma to suddenly push upwards through a rift that runs between the two of them under Iceland.
- One Icelandic volcanologist previously told Newsweek that while the volcanic episode may have ended, it may mark the start of an “intense” period of tectonic activity based on historic trends.
- “We know that this is not the end of activity on the Reykjanes peninsula”
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Important Takeaways:
- Iceland volcano – live: Strongest earthquake in 48 hours recorded as fears over eruption remain
- The strongest earthquake in 48 hours was detected near the evacuated town of Grindavik this morning, as the Icelandic Met Office continues to warn of the “persistent likelihood of an imminent eruption”.
- In its latest update, the forecaster said there were around 300 earthquakes on Sunday, with a “swarm” near the town which lasted just over an hour before midnight.
- They included an earthquake with a magnitude of 3, located three miles north east of Grindavik, at 00.26am on Monday. Over the previous 48 hours, the strongest earthquake had a 2.7 magnitude.
- A fortnight ago, Grindavik was evacuated after magma-induced seismic activity tore vast chasms through the streets of the town.
- While hundreds of earthquakes are still hitting the surrounding area daily, “seismic activity continues to decrease”, said the Icelandic Met Office, adding: “The likelihood of an imminent volcanic eruption diminishes with time.”
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