A series of earthquakes occurred in the Icelandic town of Grindavik last night, leading to a volcanic eruption.
Around 05:00 local time, the electricity went out in the town, and local authorities initiated the evacuation of residents, urging people to be cautious due to icy conditions on the streets, as reported by the Icelandic national broadcaster RUV.
After a few hours, civil defense reported that there might be magma beneath Grindavik. According to the Icelandic Meteorological Office, seismic tremors intensified beneath the town itself, indicating that an explosion might occur internally.
By around 10:00, a volcanic eruption began. It was reported that the sources of the eruption were located above the magma tunnel in a series of craters called Sundhnukur, quite far from Grindavik. Later, it became known that a new fissure had opened near Grindavik. Lava reached the town, and several buildings in Efrahopi in Grindavik burned or were flooded with lava, causing damage to electricity and heating pipelines.
However, reassuringly, Iceland’s president has confirmed that the eruption does not present a threat to life.
In mid-November, a state of emergency was already declared in the town due to the threat of the eruption of the Fagradalsfjall volcano.
At that time, a 15-kilometer-long underground magma tunnel was found near the volcano, leading to the evacuation of four thousand people from the town.
