Important Takeaways:
- Huge danger that volcanic fissures could tear apart Icelandic town without warning, local experts fear as tourists rush to cancel trips to the country and stunning new images of lava flows emerge
- Iceland’s ongoing volcanic eruption could see new fissures open up and rip apart the nearby town of Grindavik, experts have warned, as the area remains on high alert amid uncertainty around what the coming days will bring.
- The eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula, which began on Monday night, signals a heightened risk of volcanic fissures opening without warning inside the fishing town – which is home to some 4,000 people and was evacuated after it began to be shaken by earthquakes weeks ago.
- Tens of thousands of tremors have been recorded around Grindavik since a ‘seismic swarm’ first rattled the region in late October, with the Fagradalsfjall volcano threatening for weeks to erupt before Monday’s explosion at Sundhnúkagíga, which has unleashed a much larger flow than any seen in recent years.
- With a huge magma tunnel stretching beneath Grindavik fissures could still open without warning, geophysicist Benedikt Ófeigsson told Icelandic news outlet DV.
- Experts are due to meet to assess the ongoing situation on Wednesday morning after an update last night that the eruption has been weakening.
- The volcano has been spewing enough lava to fill an Olympic swimming pool every 20 seconds, an expert said on Tuesday.
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