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Massive Volcano Eruption In Iceland After Weeks of Earthquake Activity

This is a story we’ve been covering for a couple weeks….

After being hit by 1,400 Earthquakes in a 24 hours period, and suffering ongoing rumblings for several weeks, the volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwestern Iceland finally erupted.

And oh my, wait until you see it….

Check out this short video from Meteorologist Kevin Lighty:

Another video here:

And a longer one here:

The Smithsonian had more details:

A volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula in southwestern Iceland began erupting Monday after thousands of warning earthquakes shook the region for weeks. During the initial eruption, which started at 10:17 p.m. local time, lava shot more than 330 feet into the air, with some 3,530 to 7,060 cubic feet of molten rock emerging per second.

“It was crazy to see it with my own eyes. We have had volcano explosions before, but this was the first time I got really scared,” Aoalheiour Halldorsdottir, who lives about 12 miles from the nearby town of Grindavík, tells BBC News’ Oliver Slow and Marita Moloney. “We’re used to volcanoes [erupting], but this was crazy.”

This marks the fourth and largest eruption in the area since 2021, with its initial fissure opening stretching about 2.5 miles long. The volcanic activity presents no threat to human life or infrastructure at this time, and no flight interruptions are expected to or from the country. About 4,000 people have been evacuated from Grindavík since November in anticipation of the event.

Currently, the volcanic plume is drifting from the west and northwest, which may bring gas pollution to other areas, including the capital city of Reykjavík, per the Icelandic Meteorological Office.

“Iceland’s authorities are well prepared for seismic events, which occur regularly as a feature of our country’s natural geography,” the Iceland government writes in a statement.

Volcanic eruptions on Iceland are quite common. The island sits along a tectonic plate boundary that separates the North American from the Eurasian Plate. As these plates spread apart, magma wells to the surface and produces enormous volcanic eruptions of basalt, per NOAA. The volcanoes along this boundary are part of the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a roughly 10,000-mile-long mountain chain that lies mostly underwater. Iceland is one of the only places in the world where the ridge is visible above sea level.

As of Tuesday morning, volcanic activity had subsided, with lava flow about a quarter of what it was Monday night and a third of the original fissure still active. Still, Matthew Watson, a volcanologist and climatologist at the University of Bristol in England, warns tourists against trying to witness the eruption, report David Keyton and Marco Di Marco of the AP. The lava flows are only a few kilometers away from the Blue Lagoon complex, a geothermal spa and major tourist attraction.

Here were our prior reports:

ICELAND UPDATE: Large Crack Emerges Splitting Town In Half, Steam Emerges

This is an update to a story we brought you over the weekend….

Iceland was hit by 1,400 Earthquakes in a 24 hour period over the weekend.

Hard to believe, but true.

I’ll post that full report below in case you missed it.

And ordinarily it would be hard to believe a crack suddenly appearing and going through the center of town, but not if there are 1,400 Earthquakes.

And that’s exactly what we got today.

Take a look at this:

Here was our original report:

BREAKING: Iceland Hit By 1,400 Earthquakes In Past 24 Hours!

After reading that headline I know what you’re thinking….how can that possibly be true?

I know that’s what you’re thinking because that’s exactly what I was thinking when I first saw this report.

But we don’t run Fake News around here and stunningly, it IS true!

Not only that, but it’s not that uncommon for Iceland, if you can believe that.

Higher than normal, but not uncommon for hundreds of Earthquakes in Iceland apparently.

Take a look at this:

1,400 in the past 24 hours….

And 135 in just the last hour!

END TIMES, anyone?

CNN confirms:

It’s one of the main draws that brings visitors to Iceland, for a float in its milky-blue, comfortingly warm waters.

But the world-famous Blue Lagoon geothermal pool has closed for a week because of the current seismic activity around the site.

The site is part of southwest Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula – a thick finger of land pointing west into the North Atlantic Ocean from capital Reykjavik. As well as the Blue Lagoon, the peninsula is also home to Iceland’s main airport, Keflavik International.

Iceland is one of the most active volcanic areas on the planet. Rather than having a central volcano, the Reykjanes Peninsula is dominated by a rift valley, with lava fields and cones.

According to the Icelandic Met Office, around 1,400 earthquakes were measured in the 24 hours leading up to around midday on Thursday November 9, with another 800 in the first 14 hours of Friday. Seven of Thursday’s were of a magnitude of four or above – and all of these were on the peninsula, between Eldvörp, near the airport, and Sýlingarfell, a mountain just to the east of the Blue Lagoon.

The most severe quake registered 4.8 west of Þorbjörn, a mountain roughly a mile south of the Blue Lagoon, at just before 1 a.m. on Thursday.

Iceland’s new Forest Lagoon spa immerses visitors among the trees

“It is the largest earthquake since the activity began on October 25th,” the Met Office wrote in a bulletin on Thursday.

“While the accumulation of magma continues, seismic activity can be expected on the Reykjavík Peninsula because the magma intrusion causes increased tension in the area.”

Tremors can be felt from as far away as Reykjavik, a spokesperson for the local tourist board told CNN.

Magma three miles down
In the previous 24 hours, 1,200 earthquakes were measured, mostly in the same area and at the same depth – around five kilometers (three miles) below ground level. “It is likely that seismic activity will continue, and be episodic in intensity, while magma accumulation is ongoing,” the wrote on November 8, adding that “uplift continues in the area.”

By Friday, the area was still active, with around 800 quakes already measured since midnight, according to a 2 p.m. local time bulletin from the Icelandic Met Office. A “dense swarm” of quakes started at 7 a.m., culminating in a 4.1 magnitude quake near Sýlingarfell shortly before 2 p.m..

However it was also at pains to point out that an eruption isn’t necessarily imminent. “The fact that there are now larger earthquakes than before in the area does not necessarily mean an increased rate of magma accumulation,” said Thursday’s Met Office bulletin.

Friday’s bulletin warned that earthquakes of up to 5.5 magnitude “can be expected” as magma accumulation continues below ground. However, they noted, “At this stage, there are no indications that magma is forcing its way to the surface.”

Here’s what it’s like living there — pretty incredible:

I can’t imagine living with that all the time!

I think I’d be moving!

Also caught on camera here during an Interview with the Mayor:

It sounds downright terrifying!


 

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