A volcanic eruption is currently causing havoc in southwest Iceland, and some experts have predicted yet more chaos in the coming months.
The Icelandic Meteorological Office reports that the volcano erupted for the second time in less than a month on Sunday.
They believe that the fissure had since forced itself under the town of Grindavik, where apocalyptic scenes show fire belching from the ground, houses burning down, and the small fishing town of Grindavik entirely evacuated.
Iceland is one of the Earth’s most volcanically active regions, with 130 volcanoes across the country.
Volcanic events are therefore extremely common, and some experts are predicting yet more eruptions in and around the Reyjkanes Peninsula in the coming months.
GeologyHub, an educational documentary channel led by a geology expert, forecast the most recent eruptions earlier this year.
Now, they have named Fargradalsfjall as the next in line to blow its lid. Though Fargradalsfjall sits close to Reykjanes — where the volcano is currently erupting — it is a separate and independent volcanic system.
Both are, however, affected by the peninsula’s increased activity and influence each other as a result.
Fargradalsfjall erupted in 2021, 2022, and 2023, and, according to GeologyHub, “the rate of magma build-up suggests it could produce another eruption in the late summer to early autumn of 2024”.
There are some indications that such an event could well occur southwest of the eruptions which happened in 2021.
Fargradalsfjall is a shield volcano and covers an area of around three miles wide and ten miles long.
The thing that worries volcanologists most about it is that it lay dormant for almost 1,000 years but now appears to be waking up, and violently so.
The fissure that first opened up at Fargradalsfjall was estimated to be 180 metres (600 feet) long, and the lava flow was quickly concentrated in two craters that erupted at the same time.
Luckily, it hasn’t yet shown any sign of producing ash plumes like that seen at Eyjafjallajökull in 2010, when air traffic across Europe was forced to come to a standstill.
After a few weeks, new fissures formed and new vents began to open. At one point in 2021, no fewer than six craters were erupting simultaneously.
Perhaps the scariest thing about Fargradalsfjall is that although experts know that magma is gathering beneath the surface, the true extent of this pile-up is unknown. Magma may be accumulating at depths without being detected.
Lava has flowed in and around the small town of Grindavik and torched at least three homes.
Benedikt Halldórsson, an expert in earthquake activity at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, told The Icelandic National Broadcasting Service that what was happening was the worst-case scenario.
“I don’t think it’s possible to imagine anything worse than it erupting in a settlement and lava flowing onto houses,” he said.
For now, the lava flow has subsided a little, though it continues to pour out slowly.
Almost 4,000 residents were evacuated from their homes. There have been no reports of injury or death.
