Auf der isländischen Halbinsel Reykjanes in der Nähe der Stadt Grindavik hat ein großer Vulkanausbruch begonnen

by SwagMal

16 comments

  4. Hope no one was near Grindavik at the time and I hope that the lava doesn’t reach Grindavik.

  5. As of now, it’s very likely that the people in Grindavík will be able to evacuate in time. They have had ample time to to prepare, since there were signs of an eruption for the past few weeks. However there is a chance that the lava will flow towards the town.

    The lava might also flow towards Svartsengi geothermal power plant. It provides water for the blue lagoon

    Of all the possible places where the eruption might have taken place. This might be one of the worst. Luckily there are no civilians close to the eruption.

  6. The crack that has opened and is erupting is around 3 kilometers in length and the lava is flying up to around 100 meters into the air. The flow is at least 100 cubic meters per second but likely more.

    This is absolutely massive.

    Edit: Latest numbers say 3.5 km and between 100 and 200 m^3 per second

    Further edit: Now they’re saying 4 km. It’s growing to the north which is away from Grindavík.

  8. I work in Grindavík. This is going to be a long night. 🙁

  9. Least important issue at a time like this I know but I’m meant to be flying into and out of Iceland on the 21st – what are the chances that’s happening?

  10. Iceland has a major problem.

    The Reykjanes Peninsula, where much of Iceland’s population lives, where Reykjavik and Keflavik International Airport are, is made of a series of large effusive fissure volcanoes. These volcanoes, while not explosive, pose major threats to all settlements on the peninsula.

    The magma system under the peninsula seems to go through long cycles of eruptive and non-eruptive periods. The eruptive periods last from 300-500 years, and the non-eruptive periods from 500-1000 years. When Iceland was being settled, the peninsula was undergoing the waning years of one of these eruptive periods.

    The peninsula has been very, very quiet until just a few years ago when the Fagradalsfjall broke the calm with a series of eruptions. Contrary to what some news reports might say, this current eruption is not Fagradalsfjall, but the Reykjanes Volcano, and sits a little to the west.

    It is very clear that the peninsula is entering another eruptive phase, and at the rate eruptions are currently happening on the peninsula (1-2 a year), we could see hundreds of distinct eruptions happen before this phase ends over the next several centuries. Reykjavik, Gridavik, Keflavik, Hafnarfjörður, and many more towns, totaling about 2/3rds of Icelands total population exist on the remains of lava flows from these volcanoes, areas that will be inundated again.

    It’s not just people, it’s infrastructure. Iceland’s largest powerplant is a mere 2km away from the fissure this eruption has created. One of their largest tourist attractions, the Blue Lagoon is right next door as well. Keflavik International Airport, the only large international airport in Iceland is connected to the rest of the country by one road leading to Reykjavik.

    We knew this eruption was going to happen over a month an a half ago, large rock berms were being built around the power plant and Blue Lagoon, as well as plans for berms around Grindavik. But those were not ready by this time. Grindavik is down hill and being evacuated, but 3000 people are likely to be homeless after this eruption. 3000 people is about 1% of Iceland’s population. That is like if everyone in Los Angeles became homeless tomorrow.

    And this will happen again. People are going to lose their homes, critical infrastructure is going to be destroyed, and supply to the island will be interrupted by road blockages, or God forbid, an inundation of the airport.

    Iceland needs to act now to safeguard the people living on the peninsula. Rock Berms 10 meters high should be constructed around critical infrastructure and population centers. A backup landing strip should be built east of Reykjavik. This needs to happen now. Next time there might not be months of warning, and it could be much worse than this, already almost unbearable disaster currently is.

  15. Jeez, I used to live in Iceland when I was a kid and Grindivik was one of my favorite towns to visit.

  16. All those Icelandic names just look made up to me.

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