Iceland's ongoing volcanic eruption could see new fissures open up and rip apart the nearby town of Grindavik, experts have warned, as the area remains on high alert amid uncertainty around what the coming days will bring.
The eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula, which began on Monday night, signals a heightened risk of volcanic fissures opening without warning inside the fishing town - which is home to some 4,000 people and was evacuated after it began to be shaken by earthquakes weeks ago.
Locals have shared videos of their homes being ripped apart, with houses sealed and a number of people told they cannot return after the force of the tremors ripping homes from their foundations.
Iceland's tourism industry, driven by attractions including the Blue Lagoon which is just a stone's throw from the eruption, has also taken a huge hit - with some flights delayed and nervous holidaymakers cancelling reservations and pushing back their trips for the coming months.
'The future is still uncertain,' Icelandic tourist board boss Jóhannes Þór Skúlason told MBL.is. 'We have to see how this eruption plays out. If the upheavals continue for a long time, the impact on the tourism industry can be great into next year.'
Meanwhile, people around the world have marvelled at the stunning new images coming out of the country, with drone footage showing the steaming lava flows pouring out over snow-capped mountains and laying bare the extent of the 2.5 mile (4km) chasm.
Tens of thousands of tremors have been recorded around Grindavik since a 'seismic swarm' first rattled the region in late October, with the Fagradalsfjall volcano threatening for weeks to erupt before Monday's explosion at Sundhnúkagíga, which has unleashed a much larger flow than any seen in recent years.
With a huge magma tunnel stretching beneath Grindavik fissures could still open without warning, geophysicist Benedikt Ófeigsson told Icelandic news outlet DV.
'A magma tunnel was also formed [underground] from which the eruption emerged, and it extends considerably further south and north than the fissures themselves, and we can fully expect that they will start erupting without warning, as actually happened in Fagradalsfjall,' Ófeigsson warned.
Experts are due to meet to assess the ongoing situation on Wednesday morning after an update last night that the eruption has been weakening.
The volcano has been spewing enough lava to fill an Olympic swimming pool every 20 seconds, an expert said on Tuesday.
David Pyle, a professor of Earth sciences at Oxford University told Live Science that earthquakes around the eruption area have now died down, suggesting the fissure has stabilised.
'The eruption rate is likely to be in the region of a few hundred cubic metres of lava per second — enough to fill an Olympic swimming pool in about 20 seconds,' Pyle told LiveScience.
'The length of the fissure may be an indication of how much magma had been able to accumulate in the crust over the past few weeks.'
The Icelandic Met Office said in a statement last night: 'The lava flow is estimated to be about one-quarter of what it was at the beginning of the eruption on 18 December, and a third of the original fissure is active.'
Police have said that the eruption does not pose a danger to life and that no injuries have been reported so far, despite thrill-seekers flocking to the area.
While locals and tourists alike have to witness the incredible nighttime scenes firsthand, authorities have warned that the darkness makes the site even more dangerous.
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