The Reykjanes Peninsula in Iceland has been experiencing a barrage of earthquakes, with hundreds of tremors shaking the region. The earthquakes have led to the closure of Iceland’s Blue Lagoon, a popular geothermal spa, due to safety concerns. The seismic activity has raised the possibility of a potential eruption of the Reykjanes volcano and has prompted the Icelandic Meteorological Office to declare a Civil Protection Alert Phase.
The Icelandic Met Office has declared a level 3 out of 4 code orange on the universal ground-based volcano alerting scale, causing concerns at nearby Keflavik International Airport. The earthquakes, located about 2 miles northeast of Grindavík, have caused fault slips about 2 to 3 miles below the ground. The Icelandic Met Office has mentioned similarities in the current seismic activity to the events preceding the first eruption at Fagradalsfjall in 2021.
Despite the seismic activity, the most likely scenario is that it will take several days for magma to reach the surface and an eruption to begin. However, the quakes have already ruptured roadways and caused up to three inches of uplift near the volcano. A total of 295 earthquakes of magnitude 3.0 or greater have been detected in the past 72 hours, with upwards of 90 percent in the past day.
The Fagradalsfjall volcano region has experienced increased seismic activity in recent years, with eruptions occurring in 2021 and 2022. While residents and travelers in the area don’t need to worry about a repeat of the 2010 Eyjafjallajökull eruption, the ongoing seismic activity and potential eruption serve as a reminder of the region’s tectonic and volcanic activity.