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A volcanic eruption in or near the town of Grindavík in Iceland is now likely imminent , with expert warn that magma is go nearer to the airfoil .
" An outbreak could be potential on a timescale of just days , " agree toa translate command from the Icelandic Met Office ( IMO ) .
Iceland is preparing for a volcanic eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula following weeks of increasing seismic activity.
Grindavík is a small sportfishing town on Iceland ’s southern peninsula with a population of around 2,800 people . It is 3 naut mi ( 5 kilometers ) from the Blue Lagoon geothermic spa , which attracts about 700,000 visitant every year .
Thorvaldur Thordarson , prof of vulcanology at the University of Iceland , told the Iceland Monitorthat a sinkhole measure 3.2 feet ( 1 measure ) deep recently appeared in Grindavík , and subsidence in the town had continued : " So it is quite light that magma has achieve a very shallow depth under the township , " he said , according to the translate article .
He said the sinkhole appeared under some houses , so it is potential an eructation could take place inside the town .
The town of Grindavik on the Reykjanes peninsula.
Thordarson say it is hard to guess just how airless to the surface the magma is , but it could be just dozens of feet deep . If there was an extravasation in the town , the lava would probably move west and into the sea , but " something always goes the other direction , " he say .
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Seismic activity began increase in Reykjanes Peninsula on Oct. 25 , when more than 1,000 earthquake north of Grindavík occurred in the space of just minute . Two inviolable earthquakes , measuring magnitudes 3.9 and 4.5 , run into at a depth of around 3 nautical mile ( 5 kilometer ) . Over the following two workweek , seismic activity continued , with C of earthquakes and lift up recorded each day , point that magma is hoard beneath the ground .
Map showing the magma tunnel that runs past the town of Grindavík.
On Nov. 10 , a " dense swarm of earthquakes begin , " according to the IMO statement . afterwards that sidereal day , authorities announce thatthe risk posture by the volcanic bodily function was growingand began evacuating Grindavík . In the statement , IMO representative said it could be just daylight before magma reaches the control surface .
" There are indications that a considerable amount of magma is moving in an arena that runs from [ Sundhnjúkagígur ] in the north towards Grindavík , " the assertion say . " The amount of magma imply is importantly great than what has been view in the largest magma intrusions that occurred in connection with the volcaniceruptions at Fagradalsfjall . "
On Nov. 11 , IMO datum depict there was a " magma tunnel " about 9.3 naut mi ( 15 km ) from the Second Earl of Guilford down to Grindavík and into the ocean . An volcanic eruption could take place anywhere along this burrow . The magma was at a depth of 2,600 feet ( 800 megabyte ) from the surface at its shallow spot — although the IMO pointed out this data point was 12 hours old , so the magma had in all likelihood go closer to the surface since the measurements were taken .
The seismic activity likely released tenseness in the part , enabling magma to move to the surface more easily . " Models also indicate that magma may emerge at the southerly end of the magma burrow just outside Grindavík , " according to the program line .
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Magnús Tumi Guðmundsson , a geophysicist at the University of Iceland , told state broadcaster RUVthat while seismal activity has now slowed down , " that does not tell us anything about what happens next . " He said the most likely scenario was an bam near Grindavík .
