Iceland: Volcano Eruption Sends Lava Into Fishing Town

Facts

• On Sunday, at least three homes were engulfed in flames as lava from the second eruption of a volcanic system in Iceland flowed into the fishing town of Grindavík.¹
• Iceland's President Guðni Jóhannesson tweeted that there are no lives in danger and no flight paths impacted by the new eruption; however, the town's infrastructure may be at risk.²
• Overnight on Sunday, seismic activity increased, with 200 earthquakes jostling the area. The Icelandic Meteorological Office said that a new fissure has opened approximately 25% of the size of the fissure that opened in December.³
• Rakel Lind, a resident of Grindavík watched the molten lava on TV from the apartment her family has been living in since November. She said, 'I was raised [knowing] that Reykjanes would crack from Iceland…but I never thought it was actually going to happen.' Before the eruption in December, the volcano had lied dormant for nearly 800 years.⁴
• The 3.8K residents of Grindavík were evacuated in November ahead of the Dec. 18 eruption. On Dec. 22, residents were allowed to return to their homes as emergency workers began building walls to slow or stop the lava flow into the town.⁵
• Professor Evgenia Ilyinskaya, a volcanologist, told BBC that increased seismic activity and fissure activity likely meant the Reykjanes peninsula is entering a prolonged period of eruptions that could occur 'every few months or once a year for several decades or centuries.' This last occurred during a period known as the Reykjanes Fires in the 12th century.⁶

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²Business Insider, ³Daily Mail, ⁴NBC, ⁵ABC News and ⁶BBC News.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by The New York Times. Iceland is home to less than 400K people and 130 volcanoes, yet eruptions are rare. Even so, Iceland is ready. The Iceland Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management has taken all necessary precautions, implementing among of the world's most effective volcano monitoring and preparedness systems. Thanks to strong capacity building in response, this geologic event will be handled well by Icelandic officials.
• Narrative B, as provided by Science. This eruption is of great interest to scientists and will be studied into the foreseeable future. The eruption was expected in a generalized sense, however, the location and timing were unexpected. More questions arise with every passing day and it's hoped in the future that better analysis will be possible. This is a good reminder that Mother Nature can be dangerous even when the best science and preparedness are being accomplished.

Predictions