A catastrophic forecast has been announced for an entire city in Iceland due to a volcanic eruption

Experts predict that a volcanic eruption could destroy a city in Iceland, located near Reykjavik. Experts warn that the town of Grindavik could be badly damaged by the volcanic eruption, which is expected to happen within days or even hours.

Experts say the Icelandic town of about 4,000 people, located near the capital Reykjavik, could be badly damaged by the volcanic eruption, which is expected to happen within hours or days, reports Agence France-Presse.

The southwest coast town of Grindavik was evacuated in the early hours of Saturday after shifting magma beneath the earth’s crust triggered hundreds of earthquakes that are believed to have preceded the eruption.

“We are really concerned about the state of all the houses and infrastructure in the area,” says Vidir Reynisson, head of the Icelandic Office of Civil Protection and Emergency Management.

The town – about 40 kilometers southwest of Reykjavík – is located close to the Svartsengi geothermal plant, the main supplier of electricity and water to the 30,000 residents of the Reykjanes Peninsula, as well as a fresh water reservoir.

Grindavik is also close to the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa resort, a popular tourist destination that was closed as a precaution earlier this week.

“The magma is at very shallow depths right now, so we expect an eruption within a couple of hours at most, but at least within a couple of days,” says Reynisson.

The most likely scenario would be the opening of a crack in the ground near Grindavik.

“We have a fissure that is about 15 kilometers long, and anywhere on that fissure we can see that an eruption could occur,” warns Reynisson.

However, he did not rule out the possibility of an eruption on the ocean floor, which would likely produce a large ash cloud.

“This is not the most likely scenario, but we cannot rule it out because the end of the crack goes out to sea,” he said.

Earthquakes and uplift caused by the intrusion of magma have already caused damage to roads and buildings in and around Grindavik.

A large crack also tore apart the greens of the Grindavik golf course, with the image widely shared on social media.

Iceland, which has 33 active volcanic systems, declared a state of emergency and ordered a mandatory evacuation of Grindavik early Saturday morning.

Emergency shelters and relief centers have opened in several nearby towns, but most Grindavik residents are staying with friends or relatives, media reports said.

While the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) had observed magma pooling below the Earth’s surface for several days at a depth of about five kilometers, it reported late on Friday that magma had begun to rise vertically up the dam.

“This magma dam has become shallow and the maximum depth is now estimated to be 800 meters below the surface,” IMO volcanic hazards coordinator Sara Barsotti told AFP late Saturday.

She said experts were surprised by the amount of lava and the speed at which it accumulated.

“What we are seeing now is an unprecedented event. We are talking about speeds of this process and volumes or rates of influx that are much higher than what we have seen on the peninsula so far.”

In recent years, three eruptions have occurred on the Reykjanes Peninsula near the Fagradalsfjall volcano: in March 2021, August 2022 and July 2023 – all far from any infrastructure or populated areas, recalls AFP.

The Earth’s crust has been heavily eroded “over the last three years” by these eruptions, “helping magmatic fluids find their way more quickly,” Barsotti explained.

Before the March 2021 eruption, the Reykjanes Peninsula had been dormant for eight centuries.

Volcanologists believe that the new cycle of increased activity could last several decades or centuries.

Located in the North Atlantic, Iceland borders the Mid-Atlantic Ridge, a crack in the ocean floor that separates the Eurasian and North American tectonic plates.

The massive April 2010 eruption of another Icelandic volcano, Eyjafjallajokull in the south of the island, led to the cancellation of 100,000 flights, stranding more than 10 million travelers.