Eruption imminent in Iceland

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by FanIn80

From what I can tell, the imminenting is getting imminently imminentter and imminentter.

Who knows at this point? Last I heard they were letting some people back into Grindavík and have lowered the threat level. Thor might have better information if he ever hops on here.

[Thor]

So just to clear up a few comments here, yes these quakes are felt, a lot of residents in Grindavík before the evacuation were rattled, and many left before the evacuation order, it was no joke, these people are very much used to quakes.

This eruption is likely to end up inland, there is a small chance it could erupt in the ocean near Grindavík, which would cause some massive plumes but unlikely to affect international air travel, but could affect flights to Keflavík International which is not far away. Eruption inland is not going to concern air travel, like the previous 3, but they expect this one to be bigger than the previous 3.

Typically for something to really scare everyone and affect international air traffic, you need the big boys of Iceland to erupt, such as Katla under a massive glacier sheet, those are explosive monsters that erupt on the south coast, Katla is not far from Eyjafjallajökull and would be much bigger than that, btw that area has been seismically active the last number of years, so we are all just waiting on for them to erupt again.

Iceland once in 1973 dealt with the Vestmannaeyjar eruption which popped up in the middle of the town on that Island, we are all holding our breath that Grindavík is spared from the same fate.

Everyone is just waiting at this point, a lot of indicators of an imminent eruption have been there for weeks now, and the most recent news is an area further from Grindavík is showing an uplift in the ground indicating the fissure could be moving away, and to another area. Again lots of speculation but Gríndavík, The Blue Lagoon, and Svartsengi geothermal plants are all in a dangerous area.

The reasons why it hasn't erupted yet are for much speculation, experts think the lava is trying to find its way up and the near crust rock it is under is not making it easy, so the lava is still very shallow but moving and its anybody's guess where it ends up, but the danger area is not that large, so lets just hope Grindavík is spared.

But a lot of shaken people in Grindavík, are now refugees in their own country, and many are considering never going back, understandably.

The big issue isn't just that this next eruption could hit Grindavík or the nearby Blue Lagoon/Svartsengi areas, but that this whole region is now active and it's likely in the next years, decades, and centuries that many eruptions will occur like the last time this area was active and that's very bad news for the area.

[Thor]

Also Grindávik was moved down from Emergency level to Critical level yesterday, allowing residents again access to collect things from their homes, however no one is allowed to go back, that is still too risky at this point.

https://icelandmonitor.mbl.is/news/n...level_to_crit/

Still a volatile situation
“The Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management reaffirms that the area is still well-monitored, and this is still a volatile situation. The residents will not be escorted into the area, but rescue teams will be on standby around the town. In view of this, a decision has been made to extend the allowance of Grindavík residents to get into town and consider their assets.”

New regulations from authorities
It is also noted that others are not allowed to enter the town.

“These are extended powers to the people of Grindavík, not the general public.”

The following rules are hereby amended:

Residents will be able to enter Grindavík in the coming days to collect valuables and consider their possessions. While nothing changes to the worse, Grindavík City Hall will be open to residents from 9 am until 4 pm. The town will then be evacuated. Thursday, November 23rd, the town will open no earlier than 11:00 pm when the new danger level takes effect.
It is further requested that residents of Grindavík register on island.is and be authorized to enter. It will be received without delay.
Grindavík is closed to uninvolved traffic.
Members of the media are authorized to access the town.

[Locke]

Originally Posted by Thor

So just to clear up a few comments here, yes these quakes are felt, a lot of residents in Grindavík before the evacuation were rattled, and many left before the evacuation order, it was no joke, these people are very much used to quakes.

This eruption is likely to end up inland, there is a small chance it could erupt in the ocean near Grindavík, which would cause some massive plumes but unlikely to affect international air travel, but could affect flights to Keflavík International which is not far away. Eruption inland is not going to concern air travel, like the previous 3, but they expect this one to be bigger than the previous 3.

Typically for something to really scare everyone and affect international air traffic, you need the big boys of Iceland to erupt, such as Katla under a massive glacier sheet, those are explosive monsters that erupt on the south coast, Katla is not far from Eyjafjallajökull and would be much bigger than that, btw that area has been seismically active the last number of years, so we are all just waiting on for them to erupt again.

Iceland once in 1973 dealt with the Vestmannaeyjar eruption which popped up in the middle of the town on that Island, we are all holding our breath that Grindavík is spared from the same fate.

Everyone is just waiting at this point, a lot of indicators of an imminent eruption have been there for weeks now, and the most recent news is an area further from Grindavík is showing an uplift in the ground indicating the fissure could be moving away, and to another area. Again lots of speculation but Gríndavík, The Blue Lagoon, and Svartsengi geothermal plants are all in a dangerous area.

The reasons why it hasn't erupted yet are for much speculation, experts think the lava is trying to find its way up and the near crust rock it is under is not making it easy, so the lava is still very shallow but moving and its anybody's guess where it ends up, but the danger area is not that large, so lets just hope Grindavík is spared.

But a lot of shaken people in Grindavík, are now refugees in their own country, and many are considering never going back, understandably.

The big issue isn't just that this next eruption could hit Grindavík or the nearby Blue Lagoon/Svartsengi areas, but that this whole region is now active and it's likely in the next years, decades, and centuries that many eruptions will occur like the last time this area was active and that's very bad news for the area.

Oh come on! You made that one up!

Sounds like you're doing okay though?

[Thor]

Originally Posted by Locke

Oh come on! You made that one up!

Sounds like you're doing okay though?

lol for realzies.

But yeah I'm doing good, the earthquakes really only affect us over 4.0 and its just a little shakey shake, with the last 3 eruptions we have gotten pretty used to even the stronger ones.

Have friends from Grindavík so like everyone, we are all just nervously waiting and hoping that they are spared.

Its been really nice to see the nation helping out finding places to stay for that entire town, and all kinds of FB groups popping up to help in any way they can, even lots of pet rescue associations taking care of the pets and animals from Grindavík.

[Thor]

So a small update, Grindavík residents are allowed back during the daytime now, seems less likely that there will be an eruption in the town, but north of the town a fair distance is an area being watched carefully.

There are still signs of an eruption imminent, but at this point, everyone is just waiting, but still good news for Grindavík being likely not in danger.

[TheIronMaiden]

Thor still posts here? what a blast from the past.

[Geraldsh]

Originally Posted by TheIronMaiden

Thor still posts here? what a blast from the past.

Future posts are imminent.

[Wormius]

I don’t know how CC can just leave these misspelled, typo’d threads everywhere in his wake. Was this eruption so imminent that there was no time to right-click the red underlined words to let the spell-check do its thing?

[Minnie]

So it finally went boom, hey?

A volcano has erupted in Iceland after weeks of intense earthquake activity, the country’s Meteorological Office said.

In a “warning” message on its website on Monday night, the Met Office states: “Eruption has started north of Grindavik by Hagafell.”

Fearing a significant outbreak on the Reykjanes peninsula, authorities evacuated the nearly 4,000 inhabitants of the fishing town of Grindavik in early November and closed the nearby Blue Lagoon geothermal spa.

The eruption began at 22.17pm, following an “earthquake swarm” an hour earlier, according to the Met Office.

A livestream of the eruption showed the evening sky lit up in red, orange, and yellow, as lava appeared to be shooting into the air.

A Coast Guard helicopter is en route to the eruption site to determine its exact location and size, officials said Monday evening.

[dammage79]

There's some video on Twitter of it. Freaking crazy how much sky lit up from so far away. And then the close up looked like the bellagio fountain.

[dammage79]

3km long fissure from the eruption.

[cmyden]

This is crazy. Live feed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAQz...ivefromIceland

[Iowa_Flames_Fan]

Originally Posted by dammage79

3km long fissure from the eruption.

4 km now and growing apparently. They think the main lava flows will be northward and away from Grindavík, but impossible to be certain. It sounds like this could be pretty dangerous depending on how it develops.

[Fuzz]

Originally Posted by cmyden

This is crazy. Live feed: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YAQz...ivefromIceland

A helicopter flies by below the horizon at 00:23:15 (time stamp in the bottom right) left to right.

[Coach]

Holy crap that's nuts. The whole mountain side split in half. Hope everyone can stay safe. I wonder how long it will last.

[Thor]

Not one of the better options for this eruption to come up, but boy it is not a little one this time lol

[TrentCrimmIndependent]

Originally Posted by dammage79

3km long fissure from the eruption.

Sorry, my dinner didn't agree with me.

[Thor]

[Lubicon]

This thing better not mess up transatlantic flights over the next few weeks. Purely for selfish reasons.