Iceland earthquakes prompt evacuations
Earthquakes in Iceland last week prompted authorities to declare a state of emergency and evacuate the town near the Blue Lagoon. The island country is situated on tectonic plates and is home to more than 30 volcanoes.
Grindavík’s population of around 4,000 people was evacuated Saturday, and the country’s weather service warned that “the likelihood of a volcanic eruption occurring in the near future is deemed considerable,” The New York Times reported.
Cracks have begun to appear in roads, showing the visible damage from the quakes.
The southwestern peninsula was hit with thousands of earthquakes over the weekend — “More than 2,000 earthquakes were recorded in about 48 hours,” according to ABC News.
Icelandic Civil Protection authorities have declared a state of emergency following increased seismic activity in Reykjanes Peninsula. As a precautionary measure the town of Grindavík (population 3669) was successfully evacuated last night and thankfully everyone is safe.
— Bjarni Benediktsson (@Bjarni_Ben) November 11, 2023
“As a precautionary measure the town of Grindavík (population 3,669) was successfully evacuated last night and thankfully everyone is safe,” Bjarni Benediktsson, the minister of foreign affairs, posted on X, formerly known as Twitter, on Saturday.
The quakes have been shaking the region for weeks, but officials identified an underground magma formation Friday, which caused the concern.
“This can be an indication that magma is moving closer to the surface, new models will be run as soon as new data comes in to update the model,” authorities said in a weather alert.
The town is about 10 miles south of the country’s major airport, Keflavik International Airport, but so far, the seismic activity hasn’t hindered travel to the area, per BBC.
