Iceland volcano – live: Eruption threat high as workers race to shield power plant

Over 700,000 people visit the Blue Lagoon every year, one of Iceland’s top tourist attractions. However, it has been shut until Thursday amid risks of a huge volcanic eruption that could obliterate the town.

Countless couples have had to cancel honeymoons and holidays to the romantic venue which features natural thermal springs and pearly blue water.

The town of Grindavik has been evacuated amid rising risks of an eruption.

The Australian government has issued a travel advisory for people, asking them to avoid areas near volcano eruption sites and in areas around the Reykjanes peninsula.

“Avoid areas near volcano eruption sites and areas close to mountains with steep slopes on the Reykjanes peninsula due to the danger of falling rocks,” the government’s Smarttraveller website said in an update.

“Volcanic and seismic activity around Mt. Thorbjörn, 40km southwest of Reykjavik and near the Blue Lagoon and Keflavik International Airport, has increased.”

The town of Grindavik could be obliterated in an eruption, Lydia Patrick reports.

The country has been shaken by more than 2,000 small earthquakes in the past few days, prompting fears that the tremors could disrupt the Fagradalsfjall volcano on the Reykjanes peninsula in the southwest of the country.

Thousands have been told to evacuate Grindavik as a precautionary measure, while a magma tunnel stretches below the surface. If an eruption occurs in or close to the town, the consequences will be devastating, volcanologist Armann Hoskuldsson warned.

He told state broadcaster RUV: “This is very bad news. One of the most serious scenarios is an eruption in the town itself, similar to that in Vestmannaeyjar 50 years ago. This would be much worse.”

Ragga Agustsdottir, who lives close to Grindavik, said residents were fearful of what could happen if an eruption struck. “The scenario on the table now is that it will happen in or just north of the town of Grindavik. There’s no good option here,” she told The Independent.

The Icelandic Meteorological Office said on Saturday there was a “considerable” risk of an eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula because of the size of the underground magma intrusion and the rate at which it was moving.

The construction of lava barriers has begun around Svartsengi power plant and the Blue Lagoon.

The walls are being built to shield the power plant from being damaged and destroyed in the event of an eruption.

Iceland’s Parliament approved a bill just before midnight last night to enable the building of lava barriers, which will be financed through a tax hike, according to Iceland Review.

Threats of an eruption have caused thousands of earthquakes in the last few days, but Mark Gongloff for Bloomberg writes that fossil fuels are still a hundred times more harmful.

In an attempt to clarify rumours circling on social media, the journalist confirmed that planet-warming gases could be emitted. But their scale and content would not be as harmful as the equivalent toxins emitted through human consumption and waste.

Benedikt Ófeigsson at the Icelandic Met Office, has told RÚV that their new meters have detected increased levels of SO2, or sulfur dioxide.

He confirmed that the discovery had been shared with Grindavik’s police chief who had therefore made the decision to evacuation the town.

While he said this was their sole indication of a volcanic eruption occuring, he confirmed that gas does not appear this way unless magma is very high in the earth’s crust.

Residents were allowed to return to the town of Grundavik to quickly collect belongings for a second day.

The evacuated citizens of the town at the centre of the disruption, were directed by police and authorities over designated safe roads to return to their homes and collect essential goods.

Iceland’s biggest news channel, RÚV, has apologised for the behaviour of an employee who was recorded trying to get into a locked property amid volcano chaos.

Residents had left their homes and evacuated the town of Grindavik, when the employee was recorded looking for keys to get into the property.

In a statement on their website, they said: “RÚV’s reporters have tried to cover the events in Grindavík with respect for the residents and their property, and the work practices seen in the video are not in the spirit of the work rules or the spirit in which the news agency operates.

We have attributed the incident to a misunderstanding and chaos at the scene, but will subsequently review our work procedures and work rules and urge all those who go to the scene to respect the privacy and property of Grindvíkin, and not cause them more inconvenience or grief than they already have.”