Two earthquakes struck the Reykjanes peninsula on Wednesday. A new outbreak is feared. The risk of volcanoes is also increasing in the capital itself.
Reykjavik – In Iceland, in the south of the Reykjanes peninsula, people are actually waiting for a new volcanic eruption close to the eruption in mid-December. But now two earthquakes about 30 kilometers closer to the capital Reykjavik are causing unrest. The tremors with magnitudes of 4.5 and 3.9 were recorded late on Wednesday morning, and there were also a number of aftershocks. The quakes occurred in the Krysuvik volcanic system about 25 kilometers south of Reykjavik at a depth of about five kilometers and were felt in many parts of southern and western Iceland. According to experts, the cause is tectonic movements that can lead to cracks in the earth's crust through which magma rises.
Volcanic system extends into Iceland's capital
The Krysuvik volcano's fissure system extends to Lake Raudavatn on the eastern outskirts of Reykjavik. The Icelandic volcanologist Haraldur Sigurdsson is urging that a risk assessment regarding the movements of the earth's crust be carried out in the capital area.
“I think this is the beginning of a multi-year process of crust movement,” he says in the paper Visor. “It will last for decades, I guess.” The researcher predicts that further areas of the Reykjanes Peninsula up to the town of Hengill, 27 kilometers east of Reyjkavik, will be active.
The Krysuvík volcanic system is a considerable volcanic center. The Litli-Hrútur volcanic crater not far from the epicenter of the quakes only erupted in the summer. The Krysuvík system extends to the gates of Reykjavik. “There are cracks everywhere, right there. “So there is a certain danger in the capital area,” says the volcanologist. Over 234,000 people live in the capital's metropolitan area. Even directly beneath the Hádegísmóa district there could be magma in a fissure, he says.
Volcanologist: Lava could flow into Reykjavik's suburbs
Volcanologist Ármann Höskuldsson fears that if Krysuvík erupts, lava could flow towards the capital suburb of Hafnarfjördur. It will therefore soon be necessary to check which lava protection can be installed there. “There is too much development there, both an important industrial area and such a large residential area,” said the scientist Visor.
Another volcanologist, Thorvaldur Thórdrson, also told the newspaper that the quakes indicate that seismic activity is slowly shifting towards Reykjavik. “We have entered a period of volcanic eruptions on the Reykjanes Peninsula,” said Thorvaldur.
The next eruption could soon occur in the south of the Icelandic peninsula
However, a new eruption close to the December eruptions in Svartsengi and Grindavík appears likely next: “The land uplift is slowing down, and that could be an indication that we have reached such a high pressure down there that the crust is so has been stretched so much that it may have almost reached the breaking point. When it breaks, a crack is created, magma can rise around the crack and it can erupt,” says Thorvaldur.
On the evening of December 18, 2023, a lava fissure around three kilometers long burst open north of Grindavik. The coast guard had to intervene because of onlookers. The intensity of the eruption quickly diminished and the lava merely flowed into uninhabited areas. There have also long been fears in Italy that the supervolcano of the Phlegraean Fields could erupt. The situation there is currently relatively calm. At the beginning of December, the Marapi eruption in Indonesia, which claimed 23 lives, showed how dangerous volcanic eruptions can be.
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