Huge cracks appear on roads in Icelandic town at risk of volcanic eruption
Authorities in Iceland fear stormy weather conditions could affect monitoring systems as the country awaits an “imminent” volcanic eruption.
Just 165 small tremors have been recorded in the affected region since midnight on Monday, compared to the thousands that jolted the town of Grindavik in the days prior.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) says the volcano could erupt with just 30 minutes’ notice as magma is now sitting just below the earth’s surface.
The wait for the eruption is gripping the country, with thousands glued to a live stream showing a glowing red rift in the ground running through Grindavik.
The IMO said it is likely the adverse weather conditions are impacting “both the sensitivity of earthquake detection and real-time GPS monitoring”.
Kristín Jónsdóttir, a senior IMO official, said people will “just have to wait in suspense for the next few days” to see how events play out.
She said decreasing earthquake activity could also be a sign that magma has reached very close to the earth’s surface, adding that the scenario is not unlike what was seen prior to a previous eruption in 2021.
