Update, 13:30: Met Office geophysicist Benedikt Ófeigsson told the national broadcaster it is a possibility magma could flow through the cracks that have formed beneath Grindavík and erupt within the town. “There is very little flow on the southernmost crack and it is not large. It is slightly lengthening towards Grindavík,” he said. “There are large cracks under Grindavík and we are concerned that magma could flow down the cracks and up somewhere inside the town. That is a possibility.”
An eruption began south of Þorbjörn at 9:20 this morning. The initial fissure was just north of the protective barrier around Grindavík, measuring an estimated 700 metres in length. At 11:00, the Icelandic Meteorological Office reported a second fissure has opened within the protective barriers, between the berms and the town, along the same fault line as the January 2024 eruption that saw lava engulf homes on the edge of town.
Southwesterly are expected to carry volcanic gases northeastward, including over the capital area. The Met Office predicts winds to calm in the evening, concentrating the gas pollution mainly around the eruptive fissure.
This is the eighth eruption to take place along the Sundhnukur Crater Row since December 2023.
The Met Office notes that “Seismic activity continues at the southern end of the magma intrusion and also north of Stóra-Skógfell.”
The accompanying photo was taken June 12, 2024, during a previous eruption north of Grindavík.
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