© Ragnar Th. Sigurðsson/Arctic-Images/Promote Iceland
A view north of Grindavík on the Reykjanes peninsula.
A view north of Grindavík on the Reykjanes peninsula.
Rising volcanic activity on the Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland could potentially result in causing disruptions for over 300 years, scientists have warned, according to the Guardian. Not having erupted in 800 years, the region is reportedly becoming active again as land uplifts of 10cm are occuring due to underground magma intrusions, according to Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO).
Sigríður Magnea Óskarsdóttir, a specialist in natural hazards at the IMO, said to inews that currently, the volcanic activity is "unusual".
If the peninsula sees volcanic activity, eruptive episodes locally known as "fires" can occur, creating fissures of up to 8km in length in the earth that spew lava. These "fires" could possibly cover large areas of land in lava, as it happened between 1210 and 1240 when an area of around 50 square kilometres was affected."There were eruptions in the Reykjanes peninsula 800 years ago, but in our lifetime, what we are experiencing is very unusual", he said.
Comment: There has been an uptick in volcanic activity recently, including these from the last few days: