Iceland's Increasing Seismic Activity May Indicate Looming Volcano Eruption

Iceland Under Threat of Volcanic Eruption After Being Jolted by Thousands of Quakes

Sputnik International

Over the past month, the tiny island nation of 360,000 has experienced increased seismic activity amid warnings of a looming eruption of Grimsvotn volcano, Iceland's most active.

About 3,000 tremors have been registered over the northern coast of Iceland since 19 June, the country's meteorological service IMO reported.

In particular, three quakes measuring over magnitude 5 were recorded in recent days, one of them being felt in the capital Reykjavik, located some 265 kilometres from the epicentre and several dozen kilometres away from Akureyri, the second-largest city in Iceland with a population of nearly 20,000.

People who felt the largest earthquakes described how things trembled in their houses and items fell from shelves, and the national police commissioner even declared a phase of uncertainty in northern Iceland.

The series of earthquakes came amid warnings of a possible eruption from Grimsvotn, the country's most active volcano, as scientists recorded high levels of sulfur dioxide, indicating the presence of so-called shallow magma.

The IMO stressed that the risk during an eruption is related to flooding caused by melting ice. “The possibility of an eruption triggered by a glacial flood, which could occur in the coming weeks or months, has to be considered”, the institute said.

Grimsvotn's last eruption was preceded by the 2010 eruption of Eyjafjallajökull, which caused huge billows of smoke and ash that left more than 100,000 flights cancelled and 8 million passengers stranded.