Volcanic eruption in the Sundhnukar crater row — Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland
Featured image: Eruption in Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland on August 22, 2024. Credit: Björn Oddsson
A new eruption began in Reykjanes Peninsula, Iceland, following an intense series of small earthquakes in the Sundhnúkar crater row between Stóra-Skógfell and Sýlingarfell at 20:48 UTC on August 22, 2024.
According to an update from the Icelandic Met Office (IMO) posted at 21:58 UTC, the fissure initially expanded both north and south.
“At this point, no seismic activity is observed to the south along the magma corridor. The most seismic activity is to the north, which indicates that the magma is breaking its way to the north rather than to the south,” IMO volcanologists said.
The first images of the eruption from the surveillance flight of the Norwegian Coast Guard were published at 22:00 UTC:
The Aviation Color Code was raised to Red at 21:43 UTC. According to IMO, a gas-rich plume was seen rising a few hundred meters at 21:37 UTC.
The length of the eruption at 22:00 UTC was estimated at 1.4 km (0.9 miles).
Based on images captured between 21:30 and 21:50 UTC, the lava flow has traveled about 1 km (0.6 miles) in 10 minutes.
The total length of the fissure at 22:30 was approximately 3.9 km (2.4 miles), having extended by 1.5 km (0.9 miles) in about 40 minutes.
The northern end of the fissure is still experiencing considerable seismic activity, with an M4.0 earthquake occurring at 22:37 UTC. The source of the earthquake was approximately 3 km (1.9 miles) northeast of Stóra-Skógsfell.
In an update posted at 01:00 UTC on August 23, IMO said the length of the eruptive fissure remained approximately 3.9 km (2.4 miles).
“The seismicity is fairly stable, and the main activity is at the northern end of the eruptive fissure. It is therefore unlikely that the fissure will extend to the south.”
The lava flow continues both to the east and west towards Grindavíkurvegur – also known as Route 43. This road connects the town of Grindavík to the main highway network of the country. It is a critical route as it provides access to the famous Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, one of Iceland’s most popular tourist destinations. No lava flow is observed to the south towards Grindavík.
There were about 1 300 people at Blue Lagoon, the world-renowned geothermal spa, when the eruption began. All of them have reportedly been evacuated within 40 minutes.
“We took the precautionary measure of evacuating and temporarily closing all our operational units,” said a spokesperson for the Blue Lagoon. The Blue Lagoon will remain closed on Friday, August 23, at which time the situation will be reassessed.
After the eruption in November 2023, most of the population of the town of Grindavik (4 000) evacuated so there were only about 23 homes to evacuate yesterday.
I'm a dedicated researcher, journalist, and editor at The Watchers. With over 20 years of experience in the media industry, I specialize in hard science news, focusing on extreme weather, seismic and volcanic activity, space weather, and astronomy, including near-Earth objects and planetary defense strategies. You can reach me at teo /at/ watchers.news.
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