Two Avalanches Fell on Neskaupstaður in East Iceland

Two avalanches fell in the town of Neskaupstaður in East Iceland early this morning, with the first narrowly missing infrastructure and the second ploughing into an apartment building, Vísir reports.

No serious injuries are being reported at this time, but windows were broken and cars were overturned by the force of the snow. Neighbourhoods are being evacuated and a state of emergency has been declared for the town, according to Óliver Hilmarsson, an avalanche expert with the Icelandic met office. Alert levels have been raised throughout the East Fjords, including in Seyðisfjörður, which was snowed in for much of the past week.

Avalanche ramparts have been installed along much of the mountainside above Neskaupstaður, but Fjarðabyggðar Mayor Jón Björn Hákonarson pointed to this morning’s events as reason to expedite the project’s completion.

The small town in Norðfjörður in the far east of the country lays between a steep mountain range and the fjord. It was struck by a devastating avalanche on Dec. 20, 1974, wherein the snow cover of the entire mountainside descended on the town, killing 12 people.