Iceland: the unusual wave of 18,000 earthquakes that would herald decades of eruptions

REIKIAVIK Short and light, earthquakes are the order of the day in Iceland, the island country of northern Europe whose remote volcanoes, scientists say, are on the verge of an eruption.

More than 18,000 earthquakes rocked the southwest of the island in just over a week, he said. The New York Times, but characteristic of a volcanic reactivation after 800 years.

It is the culmination of more than a year of intense seismic activity on the island, and although most of the tremors lasted a few seconds, they shook even the inhabitants of the capital, Reykjavik.

“The people of Reykjavik wake up with an earthquake, others go to sleep with an earthquake,” he told Times Thorvaldur Thordarson, professor of volcanology at the University of Iceland.

Earthquakes are common in Iceland, a country stretching on both sides of two of the tectonic plates, North America and Eurasia, divided by an underwater mountain range. The ridge oozes hot molten rock, or magma, from the depths of the Earth, forcing the plates to separate and trigger earthquakes.

The current earthquake swarm began on February 24 with an earthquake 5.7 on the Richter scale, the largest to date, followed by thousands more.

Geophysicists and volcanologists say seismic activity on the island has intensified since December 2019. In October 2020, Prime Minister Katrin Jakobsdottir had to stop briefly during a live interview when an earthquake was felt.

Meanwhile, volcanologists are bracing for what could be decades of increased activity. “Pulses of volcanic activity in the region occur about every 800 years,” Thordarson said of the latest eruptions in Reykjanes, which lasted from the 11th to the 13th centuries. “It looks like we were on time.”

The earthquakes have caused little damage so far, although the Icelandic Highway and Coastal Administration has reported small cracks in the area’s roads and rockfall on steep slopes near the epicenter of the swarm.

“Why is this happening? It is very likely that we have a magma intrusion in the crust [de la Tierra] the. It has certainly come closer to the surface, but we are trying to find out if it is getting even closer, ”volcanologist Porvaldur Poroarson said.

With several volcanoes in the area, local officials have warned that an eruption could be imminent.

“I have experienced earthquakes before, but never so many in a row,” Reykjavik resident Auur Alfa Olafsdottir told CNN. “It is very unusual to feel the earth shake 24 hours a day for an entire week. It makes you feel very small and helpless in the face of nature ”.

In the fishing village of Grindavík, locals had a front row seat for the tremors. “I’ve never experienced anything like this before,” said Pall Valur Björnsson, who teaches at the local College of Fisheries and sits as a deputy deputy.

“We’re used to it; started a year ago. But now it’s much more, very worrying. I am not afraid, but it is embarrassing. I woke up twice last night from tremors. There was a big one when I fell asleep and woke up with one, ”Björnsson said. And he concluded: “It’s difficult but you have to learn to live with it”.

THE NATION

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