The Reykjanes Peninsula includes a volcanic system that has erupted three times since 2021, after being dormant for 800 years.
The Blue Lagoon geothermal spa – one of Iceland’s biggest tourist attractions – has closed temporarily as a swarm of earthquakes put the nation’s most populated region on alert for a volcanic eruption.
“There was a panic situation,” Mr Stefansson told The Associated Press. “People thought a volcanic eruption was about to happen.”The area around Mount Thorbjorn on the Reykjanes Peninsula has been shaken by hundreds of small earthquakes every day for more than two weeks due to a build-up of volcanic magma some 3.1 miles underground. Land in the region has risen by 9 centimetres since October 27, according to the Icelandic Met Office, without showing imminent signs of eruption.
Iceland, which sits above a volcanic hotspot in the North Atlantic, averages an eruption every four to five years. The most disruptive in recent times was the 2010 eruption of the Eyjafjallajokull volcano, which spewed huge clouds of ash into the atmosphere and led to widespread airspace closures over Europe.
“We need to be prepared for the worst,” volcanologist Thorvaldur Thordarson said. “Magnitude 5 earthquakes, such as the one last night, are known to precede eruptions.”
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