Volcano Watch 2024: Lava Reaches Grindavík, Claims First Homes

After a series of small earthquakes starting around 03:00 Sunday morning, an eruption began in the Reykjanes peninsula just before 08:00 just north of the town of Grindavík. By that point all the people residing in the town, numbering about 200 in about 80 homes, had been evacuated.

The erupting fissure was soon estimated to be 900 to 1,000 metres in length, situated just 450 metres from the nearest building in Grindavík. Lava has flowed over the main road to Grindavík and along the protective walls erected in the area. The eruption is smaller than that which began on Dec. 18 at Sundhnúkagígar.

A second fissure then began erupting around 12:30, just outside the town limits. Lava from that fissure moved rapidly toward houses in the Hópsshverfii neighbourhood. By 15:00 the lava claimed the first house, a newly built single family home on Efrahóp street.

At around 16:00, Met office geophysicist Benedikt Ófeigsson reported that land deformations and seismic activity around and inside Grindavík appeared to have settled. It remains too early to make predictions about the longevity of the eruption, however.

Dozens of sheep and several family pets are believed to be trapped in Grindavík, RÚV reported. The Animal Protection Association of Iceland is calling on search and rescue teams to remove them from the town, if possible. All animals had been evacuated from Grindavík in the days following the Nov. 10, 2023, evacuation of the town, however some residents had decided in recent weeks to bring animals back into town.

Find the latest news about the ongoing eruption on https://grapevine.is

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