Residents of Grindav\u00edk, Iceland, have been asked to evacuate after thousands of minor earthquakes indicated the enhanced possibility of a volcanic eruption in the Reykjanes volcanic system.<\/p>\n
The coastal town of about 3,000 people is one of the most popular tourist destinations in Iceland, according to travel website KAYAK<\/a>.<\/p>\n While officials said there was no \u201cimmediate danger,\u201d as it is likely that magna would not reach the surface for several days, residents of the town were nonetheless urged to evacuate, Fox Weather<\/a> reported.<\/p>\n \u201cIn case the current intrusion will evolve further and magma will start propagating towards the surface in this area, the most likely outcome would be an effusive eruption,\u201d the Iceland Meteorological Agency told Fox.<\/p>\n \u201cHowever, the presence of shallow ground-water in the vicinity of the ongoing magmatic accumulation, might trigger some short-lived explosions whenever magma will encounter these reservoirs.\u201d<\/p>\n The area was under an \u201cOrange alert\u201d because of the earthquake activity, meaning that \u201cthe volcanic system is showing heightened unrest with increased likelihood of eruption,\u201d according to Fox, which cited the Iceland Met Office.<\/p>\n An Orange alert amounts to a level-3 warning on a 4-point scale.<\/p>\n Fox said that the area has experienced 22,000 small quakes since October 25, with the strongest hitting just after midnight Thursday and coming in at a 4.8 on the Richter scale.<\/p>\n The Washington Post<\/a>, however, reported Friday afternoon (behind a paywall) that at least seven quakes had been measured at 4.5 or better on that scale \u2014 and that two topped 5.0.<\/p>\n \u201cBased on how the seismic activity has evolved since 6 PM today, along with results from GPS measurements, there is a likelihood that a magma intrusion has extended beneath Grindav\u00edk,\u201d the IMO told the Post.<\/p>\n The IMO suggested that the coming volcanic eruption<\/a> could be the largest in the area in at least several years.<\/p>\n \u201cThe amount of magma involved is significantly more than what was observed in the largest magma intrusions associated with the eruptions at Fagradalsfjall [in 2021],\u201d the IMO warned.<\/p>\n More ominously for the residents of Grindav\u00edk, the earthquakes<\/a> were observed moving closer to the town.<\/p>\n \u201cThe signs that can be seen now \u2026 are similar to those seen on the eve of the first eruption at Fagradalsfjall in 2021, and are very similar to the seismic activity that was measured about a month before that eruption,\u201d the IMO said in an earlier alert cited by the Post.<\/p>\n \u201cIt is not a question of if but when it erupts,\u201d Thor Thordarson, a professor in volcanology at the University of Iceland, told Bloomberg<\/a>.<\/p>\n Authorities had begun \u201cbuilding fortifications\u201d in hopes of keeping flowing lava<\/a> away from some of the area\u2019s most important infrastructure, the outlet reported, which noted that the local volcanic range<\/a> had been dormant for centuries before suddenly erupting in 2021.<\/p>\n They also shut down the town\u2019s famous \u201cBlue Lagoon\u201d for at least a week.<\/p>\n \u201cSigns of magma coming towards the surface would appear as increased, shallower seismicity and rapid crustal deformation at the surface as well as volcanic tremor, which is a high rate of many small earthquakes,\u201d the IMO warned on November 4, according to Fox. \u201cAt the moment no clear signs can be seen of any of this, but the situation can change on short notice.\u201d<\/p>\n This article appeared originally on The Western Journal<\/a>.<\/p>\n The post State of Emergency Declared, Town Evacuated Amid Earthquake Swarm \u2013 Disaster May Soon Follow<\/a> appeared first on The Gateway Pundit<\/a>.<\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Residents of Grindav\u00edk, Iceland, have been asked to evacuate after thousands of minor earthquakes indicated the enhanced possibility<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":0,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"_monsterinsights_skip_tracking":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-20629","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"yoast_head":"\n