Iceland has recorded more than 50,000 tremors in the past three weeks, which indicates that a volcanic eruption may follow. Most residents are learning to live with the shakes.
The following written content from Eric Lluent
Iceland lives pending the evolution of a magma intrusion in the Reykjanes peninsula that could cause a new volcanic eruption. The alert was issued on March 3 and since then the population has followed the information of the experts with uncertainty. While eruptions on the North Atlantic island are common, this would be the closest to the capital ever since Reykjavik became a municipality in the 1786.
The capital region, where they currently live two-thirds of the country’s 364,000 inhabitants, it is located about 35 km of the area where scientists estimate that the eruption could occur.
The latest information indicates that, if the volcanic episode began today, it would take place in the Nátthagi valley, near the southern coast of the peninsula. The last volcanic activity in Reykjanes dates from 1240, after a period of three centuries volcanologically very active.
An extraordinary seismic activity
So far, the lava has not penetrated the last section of the earth’s crust, but the interaction of magma with the fault zone between the North American and Eurasian tectonic plates has produced extraordinary seismic activity. In three weeks 50,000 earthquakes have been exceeded, more than were detected in the region in all of 2020, a year that was already exceptional due to the high number of seismic movements in Reykjanes.
“We had never recorded an episode of this nature next to inhabited areas,” says Sigríður Kristjánsdóttir, a seismologist with the public Iceland Geo Survey.
Kristjánsdóttir and his team study the possible scenario of an earthquake in magnitude 6.5 in the area of Brennisteinsfjöll, a mountain 20 km from the capital, but they rule out movements of greater magnitude.
In Iceland there are no earthquakes above magnitude 7. Photo: AFP
“In Iceland there are no earthquakes above magnitude 7 because the tectonic plates are moving apart and the thickness of the crust is not enough to produce larger shakes,” says Kristjánsdóttir.
The strongest earthquake of this episode was of magnitude 5.7 and was registered on the morning of February 24. Since then, the land in the southwest of the island has moved intensely day after day. In addition, three pulsating tremors have been detected, a kind of volcanic turbulence that indicates the possibility of an impending eruption.
From Reykjavik and the municipalities of the capital area, earthquakes are experienced with a mixture of fear and curiosity, but the situation is more delicate in the towns near the epicenters, especially in Grindavík. Among the 3,500 residents of this fishing village there are beginning to be signs of fatigue after many nights in suspense by strong shaking.
Insomnia, anxiety …
“In episodes like the ones we are experiencing, the most common is that people have anxiety. The constant threat of earthquakes is always present because we do not know when they will come or how big they will be. Common symptoms are insomnia or sleep problems, due to constant worry and increased hypersensitivity of the body.
“Burnout is also normal,” explains Óttar Birgisson, a psychologist from the Suðurnes region health system who has scheduled working meetings with the Grindavík authorities to advise them on managing the situation. “In these cases, it is advisable to express feelings, exercise and a good diet ”, he points out.
One of the most distressing issues in Grindavík is that seismic and volcanic activity it does not follow a known cycle. In fact, there are no recent precedents in the region, so there is no historical data.
The eruption of the Eyjafjallajökull volcano. Photo: AFP
“We do not know how long the current seismic activity can last. Nor can we determine the probability of an eruption, but what is clear is that the magma is rising”Says Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson, a volcanologist and professor at the University of Iceland.
Regarding the incidence in Reykjavik, Guðmundsson believes that an eruption in Reykjanes “would not change life”, although he adds that, at first, the toxic gas it could force the population to “lock themselves at home for a few hours.”
In the memory of Europeans there is still the Eyjafjallajökull volcano. In 2010, European airspace was affected by a large ash cloud resulting from an explosive volcanic eruption under one of the glaciers in southern Iceland.
The fact that the current eruption alert affects Reykjanes, where the Keflavík airport is located, is also a concern on the island, although it does not seem that the situation in 2010 should be repeated. Read more from PledgeTimes
Subscribe here
