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Another volcanic eruption could take place in Iceland in a affair of days or hebdomad , federal agency have warned .
According to experts with the Icelandic Met Office ( IMO ) , 230 million cubic foot ( 6.5 million cubic meters ) of magma has now entered the sleeping room sitting beneath Svartsengi , around 2.5 miles ( 4 kilometers ) north of the townspeople of Grindavík — meaning the volume is fast approaching level regard before the eruption on Jan. 14 , when two fissures opened on the fringe of the Ithiel Town .
The last eruption on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula took place on Jan. 14, with two fissures opening near Grindavík.
According to atranslated statementfrom the IMO , the volume of magma in the chamber will reach the same level seen in the last eruption within the next two workweek .
Unlike the old eruptions , the warning fourth dimension this clock time could be as little as one hour due to few earthquake in the work up - up , IMO interpreter compose . " In case of repeat magma flows , it is likely that the path for the magma will be easier and this will be accompanied by less seismal bodily function , " they wrote in the argument .
Benedikt Ófeigsson , head of deformation measurements at the IMO , toldIceland ’s national spreader RUVthat the most likely billet a fissure will come along is between Stóra - skógafell and Hagafell — 3.7 miles and 1.2 mile ( 5.9 klick and 2 km ) , respectively , northeast of Grindavík .
An updated map shows the risk zones for another eruption on the Reykjanes Peninsula.
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" It is not probable that it will erupt inside the Ithiel Town and in fact the geological data point does not point that , but nothing is out of the question so we have to keep it in as a hypothesis , " he state . " Maybe it ’s time for magma not to get this far south again . However , we do not have any measurements that tell us when enough is enough , so we have to take that the magma can go south again in the focus of Grindavík . "
A 9.3 mile ( 15 km ) magma dyke — a nigh - vertical tunnel run from the magma chamber beneath — form beneath the Reykjanes Peninsula in October and November last twelvemonth . Iterupted on Dec. 18 , witha wall of lavaflowing from a 2.5 - Admiralty mile ( 4 km ) crevice .
Lava flows from a fissure that opened on Jan. 14 near the town of Grindavík destroyed three houses.
After a geological period of quiet , the volcano extravasate again on Jan. 14 , whentwo fissures opened up just northerly of Grindavík . Lava fall from the small eructation entered the town and destroyed houses . Since then , the soil around Svartsengihas continued to ascend , indicating magma is still accumulate beneath the surface and that this waving of volcanic activity is not over .
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It ’s not potential to predict exactly where an eruption could take place . Carmen Solana , fellow prof of volcanology and risk communicating at the University of Portsmouth in the U.K.,previously severalize Live Sciencethat magma will arise to the airfoil through the weak point in Earth ’s crust . " We do n’t know where the next one is going to happen and we do n’t know how big it will be , " she said . " That ’s the sad part of volcanology — we have it away that something is going to happen and you know roughly where , but you’re able to not nail with that precision . "
An update jeopardy map from the IMO shows the region running north - northwest of Grindavík seems to be at greatest risk from a scissure opening without observance . The townspeople of Grindavík is considered to be at " considerable jeopardy , " with lava flows and land flop possible .
