Iceland volcano: Experts reveal exact location for ‘likely’ eruption as magma flow continues – live

Earthquake activity has led to the deepening of the port at Grindavik, according to local media outlet RUV.is.

The change in depth is because of the impact of the earthquakes, said the port manager Sigurður Arnar Kristmundsson – who says it’s not all bad news.

He told he news outlet: “The docks seem to have sunk by 20-30 centimeters when we measured about 10 days ago and then there is a chance that, yes, the bottom has sunk accordingly.

“It’s no big news that the piers have sunk, but it can probably be fixed. But it’s good news that the bottom has subsided to the extent that the ships can have a greater draft when they come into port.”

Residents of Grindavik have now been away from their homes for more than two weeks. As uncertainty hangs over when they will be able to return, they were able to put questions to the country’s leaders at an event this week, report local outlet RUV.is.

Here’s a round-up of some of the questions they asked:

Should the town have been evacuated earlier?

Víðir Reynisson, from the Icelandic police force, said it was not necessary to evacuate the town earlier. The first data from 10 November showed that the magma corridor was so far from the town that it would take days or even weeks for lava to flow to Grindavík in the event of an eruption, he said.

When will pipelines be fixed?

Works are underway with the project expected to take place over the winter with completion in early spring.

How you get compensation for a house?

Compensation reflects the damage that has occurred to the property. People have a year to report the damage.

Where can children go to school?

Children from Grindavik will be able to use a school in Grafarvogur from 30 November.

Police have been allowing evacuated residents of Grindavik to return for their belonging and run commercial activities – and now they have extended the hours from 9am to 4pm to 7am to 5pm.

Companies can restart operations where plumbing systems have been fixed, including in the port area.

Police officers keep tabs on the number of people inside the town by counting cars coming in and out each day.

The relaxation comes as the Icelandic Met Office now predicts an eruption is more likely to be in an area north of Grindavík, and not within the town boundary.

A telehealth company is offering healthcare and support to people evacuated from the town of Grindavik two weeks ago.

With support from the government’s public safety department, police and the Red Cross, company Kara Connect has launched the service, with help from volunteers.

Psychologists, family support workers and occupational therapists will all be on hand to offer support.

Sigrún Eggertsdóttir, an employee of Kara Connect, said the residents had suffered an enormous shock and the company wished to help in their hour of need.

The Icelandic Met Office has updated its readings for earthquakes recorded today.

At 11.30am, it reported there had been around 180 minor earthquakes near the dike in the Grindavik region so far today.

Of them, the largest had a magnitude of 2.3 and was located near Hagafell, close to where the experts believe an eruption would take place.

Around 300 earthquakes were detected yesterday, as seismic activity continutes in the area.

As we continue to focus on events in Iceland, there’s been some footage caputred of a volcano in Japan spewing ash and smoke in a spectacular eruption.

The eruption took place on Niijima island, some 100 miles south of the capital of Tokyo on 23 November.

You can watch the video by clicking here.

Every morning the Icelandic Met Office isuses an update on earthquakes across the country, including the “volanic unrest near Grindavik”.

Its update at just before 6am this morning reported around 80 minor earthquakes near the dike near Grindavik today, with around 300 recorded yesterday.

The strongest earthquake over the past 48 hours was measured at 3.5 magnitude and was at Vatnafjoll, today at 5.56am.

The continued seismic activity comes as the Met Office warns an eruption “is stil considered likely as long as the magma inflow continues”.

The Icelandic Met Office has been doing further testing on the magma dike which formed on 10 November, resulting in the evaucation of the town of Grindavik.

It has found that the dike, at its depth, could be wider than initially assessed.

This means it will take more time for the magma to solidify, possibly a few months, and therefore the threat of an eruption will remain for longer.

The update reads: “Additional geodetical modelling has been performed to reconstruct the evolution of the dike which formed on 10 November.

“These newest results suggest that the dike at depth could be wider than initially assessed. The time needed to solidify the magma that intruded into the dike would be therefore estimated to be on the order of a few months.”

Here’s a map showing the area the Icelandic Met Office predict the eruption will be, between Hagafell and Sýlingarfell.