Iceland volcano latest news: Eruption threat ‘imminent’ as magma spreads and earthquakes make ‘ghost town’
The volcano had been inactive for 800 years until it awoke in 2020.
Iceland is bracing for what scientists warn could be an imminent eruption of Fagradalsfjall volcano on the island’s south west peninsula.
Around 600 earthquakes have been recorded since midnight, according to Iceland’s Met Office (IMO), with gaping chasms leaving the town of Grindavik looking like a ghost town.
While official advice states it is still safe for tourists to travel to Iceland, warnings and a Civil Protection Alert remain in place.
The IMO warned on Tuesday that the volcano, in the Reykjanes Peninsula volcanic region, has a ‘significant likelihood’ of erupting following days of violent earthquakes.
Benedikt Ofeigsson, of the Icelandic Meteorological Office, said magma could now be just 500m beneath Grindavik.
The volcanic activity comes amid the backdrop of thousands of earthquakes over the past week with cracks forming beneath the surface of Grindavik, ripping roads in half, uprooting buildings and closing the nearby tourist attraction, the Blue Lagoon.
