Iceland volcano – live: Shock images show ground splitting as eruption fears grow

Inhabitants of Grindavik described being whisked from their homes in the early hours of Saturday as the ground shook, roads cracked and buildings suffered structural damage.

Hans Vera, a Belgian-born 56-year-old who has lived in Iceland since 1999, said there had been a constant shaking of his family’s house.

“You would never be steady, it was always shaking, so there was no way to get sleep,” said Mr Vera, who is now staying at his sister-in-law’s home in a Reykjavik suburb.

“It’s not only the people in Grindavik who are shocked about this situation, it’s the whole of Iceland.”

Almost all of the town’s 3,800 inhabitants had been able to find accommodation with family members or friends, and only between 50 and 70 people were staying at evacuation centres, a rescue official said.

Some evacuees were briefly allowed back into the town on Sunday to collect belongings such as documents, medicines or pets, but were not allowed to drive themselves.

“You have to park your car five kilometres from town and there’s 20 cars, huge cars from the rescue team, 20 policemen, all blinking lights, it’s just unreal, it’s like a war zone or something, it’s really strange,” Mr Vera said.

Residents of a fishing town in southwestern Iceland left their homes Saturday after increasing concern about a potential volcanic eruption caused civil defense authorities to declare a state of emergency in the region.

Police decided to evacuate Grindavik after recent seismic activity in the area moved south toward the town and monitoring indicated that a corridor of magma, or semi-molten rock, now extends under the community, Iceland’s Meteorological Office said. The town of 3,400 is on the Reykjanes Peninsula, about 50 kilometers (31 miles) southwest of the capital, Reykjavik.

Seismic activity in southwestern Iceland decreased in size and intensity on Monday, but the risk of a volcanic eruption remained significant, authorities said, after earthquakes and evidence of magma spreading underground in recent weeks.

Almost 4,000 people were evacuated over the weekend as authorities feared that molten rock would rise to the surface of the earth and potentially hit a coastal town and a geothermal power station.

Located between the Eurasian and the North American tectonic plates, among the largest on the planet, Iceland is a seismic and volcanic hot spot as the two plates move in opposite directions.

The Icelandic Meteorological Office said on Monday there was a “significant likelihood” of an eruption in coming days on or just off the Reykjanes peninsula near the capital Reykjavik, despite the size and intensity of earthquakes decreasing.

“We believe that this intrusion is literally hovering, sitting in equilibrium now just below the earth’s surface,” said Matthew James Roberts, director of the service and research division at the meteorological office.

“We have this tremendous uncertainty now. Will there be an eruption and if so, what sort of damage will occur?” he said.

Thorvaldur Thordarson, professor in vulcanology at the University of Iceland, said most recent data indicated a smaller risk of an eruption in the area around the town of Grindavik.

A man who evacuated from a town in Iceland after earthquakes put the region on alert for a volcanic eruption said he fears he might never see his home again.

Caitlin McLean, from Scotland, was visiting her boyfriend, Gisli Gunnarsson, in Grindavik when they were forced to flee his home at midnight on Friday, packing only a few essential items, to stay with Mr Gunnarsson’s mother in Reykjavik.

Iceland is highly susceptible to natural disasters as it lies on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge – a divergent plate boundary where the North American Plate and the Eurasian Plate are moving away from each other, leading to volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.

Here is a map of all the earthquakes that have taken place in recent days:

The town of Grindavík, just 10 miles south of Keflavik International Airport, has been evacuated as a precaution.

I am in Iceland. Will I be able to leave?

Despite fears of an impending volcanic eruption, flights from the UK to Keflavik international airport 10 miles north of the eruption site are going ahead as usual.

A man who evacuated from a town in Iceland after earthquakes put the region on alert for a volcanic eruption said he fears he might never see his home again.

Caitlin McLean, from Scotland, was visiting her boyfriend, Gisli Gunnarsson, in Grindavik when they were forced to flee his home at midnight on Friday, packing only a few essential items, to stay with Mr Gunnarsson’s mother in Reykjavik.

Police evacuated Grindavik after seismic activity in the area moved south towards the town, with a corridor of magma, or semi-molten rock, now thought to be extending under the community, Iceland’s Meteorological Office said.

Roads split apart near Grindavik in Iceland as the country prepared for a volcanic eruption following a series of earthquakes and evidence of magma spreading underground.

On Saturday, 11 November, the Icelandic Meteorological Office that there was a “considerable” risk of an eruption on or close to the Reykjanes peninsula due to the size of the underground magma intrusion and the rate at which it was moving.

In the past few days, the country has been shaken by more than 2,000 small earthquakes and thousands of people have been told to evacuate Grindavik.

The eruption is expected to begin on the seabed just southwest of the town. Watch the clip here:

The UK foreign office has updated its travel advice, warning that a volcanic eruption is increasingly likely.

Its official warning reads: “Earthquakes and indications of volcanic activity have increased above normal levels on the Reykjanes peninsula, southwest of Reykjavik.