Iceland's ongoing volcanic eruption could cause new fissures to open and tear the nearby city of Grindavik apart, experts warn. The area remains on high alert amid uncertainty about what the coming days will bring.
The Reykjanes eruption that began Monday evening signals an increased risk of volcanic fissures opening without warning in the fishing village, which is home to some 4,000 people and was stripped of its population for weeks when it began to be shaken by earthquakes.
Locals have already shared videos of their homes being torn apart, with one telling MailOnline that her home has been sealed and she cannot return after the force of the tremors tore it from its foundations.
Iceland's tourism industry, powered by attractions such as the Blue Lagoon, which is a stone's throw from the eruption, has also taken a huge hit, with some flights delayed and nervous holidaymakers canceling their reservations and postponing their trips for the coming months.
“The future is still uncertain,” said Jóhannes Þór Skúlason, head of Iceland's tourism board MBL.is. “We'll have to see how this eruption plays out. If the upheavals continue for a long time, the impact on the tourism sector could be significant until next year.'
Meanwhile, people around the world have been marveling at the stunning new images emerging from the country, with drone footage showing the steaming streams of lava flowing over snow-capped mountains and exposing the vastness of the four-kilometre-long gorge.
Bubbling lava flows from chasms near the town of Grindavik, Iceland, on December 19
Molten lava emerges from a fissure on the Reykjanes Peninsula, 3 km north of the evacuated town of Grindavik, in western Iceland, on December 19.
A close-up of the southern active part of the original fissure of an active volcano in Grindavik on Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula
Tens of thousands of tremors have been recorded around Grindavik since a 'seismic swarm' first rocked the region in late October, with the Fagradalsfjall volcano threatening to erupt for weeks before Monday's explosion at Sundhnúkagíga, which unleashed a much larger flow than ever before. recent years.
With a huge magma tunnel stretching beneath Grindavik, fissures can still open without warning, geophysicist Benedikt Ófeigsson told Icelandic news channel DV.
'A magma tunnel was also formed (underground) from which the eruption emanated, and this extends considerably further south and north than the rifts themselves, and we can fully expect them to erupt without warning, as actually happened at Fagradalsfjall, ' Ófeigsson warned.
Experts will meet on Wednesday morning to assess the ongoing situation, following an update last night that the eruption has weakened.
The volcano has spewed out enough lava to fill an Olympic swimming pool every 20 seconds, an expert said Tuesday.
David Pyle, professor of earth sciences at the University of Oxford, told LiveScience that earthquakes around the eruption area have now subsided, indicating that the rift has stabilized.
“The eruption rate is probably in the region of a few hundred cubic meters of lava per second — enough to fill an Olympic-sized swimming pool in about 20 seconds,” Pyle said.
'The length of the fissure may be an indication of how much magma has been able to accumulate in the crust in recent weeks.'
The Icelandic Met Office said in a statement last night: 'The lava flow is estimated at around a quarter of what it was at the start of the eruption on December 18, and a third of the original fissure is active.'
Police have said the eruption does not pose a threat to life and no injuries have been reported so far, despite thrill seekers flocking to the area.
While locals and tourists alike have to witness the incredible nighttime scenes first-hand, authorities have warned that the darkness makes the site even more dangerous.
A drone captures the lava flow from the erupting volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula
Scientists from the University of Iceland take measurements and samples while standing on the ridge in front of the active part of the erupting fissure of an active volcano in Grindavik
The eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula, just north of the evacuated town of Grindavik, started around 10:17 pm last night after an earthquake swarm, the Icelandic Meteorological Office said, referring to a series of small tremors.
Lava rises to the surface at the site, which is a short distance from the town of Grindavik
Billowing smoke and flowing lava turning the sky orange are seen in this Icelandic Coast Guard handout during a volcanic eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula on Monday
The biggest risk to people living near the volcano, authorities say, is volcanic fumes, which can cause breathing problems or asphyxiation.
Fears that the toxic gas from the eruption would hit the Reykjanes Peninsula overnight fortunately did not materialize.
However, pollution levels have risen in parts of the peninsula, raising concerns among experts.
People are being asked to stay away from the area as smoke and ash are still coming from the eruption.
Iceland's Met Office estimates that hundreds of cubic meters of lava per second escaped the volcano in the first two hours after the eruption began on Monday, although this has slowed significantly since then.
The lava has a temperature of about 1200 degrees Celsius (2200 degrees Fahrenheit).
The volcano last erupted in March 2021, but had been inactive for 6,000 years before that.