Over the past week, the Icelandic Meteorological Office has reported about 17,000 earthquakes on the volcanic island, according to reports.
A CNN report said that, although accustomed to occasional tremors, this has been an unusual week for Iceland, centered in the southwestern region of Reykjanes.
On the morning of February 24, the biggest and strongest earthquake, magnitude 5.6 on the Richter scale, occurred, CNN reported.
This earthquake was followed by “a swarm that continues to shake residents of the capital Reykjavík” and neighboring municipalities, an area occupied by two-thirds of the Icelandic population. Two major earthquakes occurred, measuring more than 5.0 magnitude, on February 27 and March 1.
So far, the report said there was little damage, with the exception of small cracks in the area’s roads, as well as “falling rocks on steep slopes near the epicenter of the swarm”, reported by the Icelandic Roads and Coastal Administration.
“I have experienced earthquakes before, but never so many in a row,” Auður Alfa Ólafsdóttir, a resident of Reykjavik, told CNN. “It is very unusual to feel the Earth tremble 24 hours a day for an entire week. It makes you feel very small and powerless against nature. “
CNN cited a resident in the fishing town of Grindavík, where residents “had a front row seat for the tremors”. Páll Valur Björnsson, who teaches at the local Faculty of Fisheries and serves as a Member of Parliament, said: “I have never experienced anything like this before”.
He added: “We are used to it; started a year ago. But it is much more now – very unsettling. I am not afraid, but this is uncomfortable. I woke up twice last night because of [tremors]. There was a very big one when I went to sleep and woke up with one. It is difficult, but you have to learn to live with it. “
Why are there so many earthquakes?
The reason why there are occasional stronger tremors in the area is something that scientists can explain, but why they are lasting so long is something that scientists are “fighting”, the report said.
CNN shared this explanation of the cause of Iceland’s occasional seismic activity. “Iceland sits on a tectonic plate boundary that continually divides, separating North America and Eurasia from each other along the Middle Atlantic Chain line. Most of the seismic activity here is detected only by sensitive scientific equipment. Occasionally stronger tremors are an inevitable part of life in an active seismic region. “
Only this time, the turmoil under the ground does not seem to end, CNN said.
CNN quoted Þorvaldur Þórðarson, a professor of volcanology at the University of Iceland, who said concerns about the recent activity were understandable. “Of course it worries people. For this region, this is quite unusual, not because of the type of earthquakes or their intensity, but because of their duration. It’s been going on for over a week. “
“We are struggling with ‘why’ at the moment. Why is this happening? It is very likely that we will have an intrusion of magma into the [Earth’s] crust there. It definitely got closer to the surface, but we’re trying to find out if it’s getting even closer, ”he said.
A rash may be imminent.
CNN said that due to the area’s multiple volcanoes, local officials warned that “an eruption could be imminent”.
Elísabet Pálmadóttir, a natural hazards specialist at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, told CNN that surveillance equipment is being deployed by authorities in the area, “from GPS and earthquake monitors to web cameras and gas detectors”, and warns that the area “can experience an earthquake of magnitude 6 or greater.”
If a volcanic eruption occurs, it appears that no city is at risk of lava flows, “according to the latest modeling by the Volcanology and Natural Hazards Group at the University of Iceland, which released maps of potential flows on Wednesday,” said the CNN.
Just 20 miles south of the capital, a quake near the Keilir volcano prompted authorities to ban traffic in the area on Wednesday afternoon. The Icelandic MET Office noted on its website that similar activities preceded the eruptions, CNN said.
Víðir Reynisson, chief superintendent of the Icelandic Department of Civil Protection and Emergency Management, said at a news conference on Wednesday that if an eruption occurs, what was “more likely than not” in the next few hours would be the first. in the area since the 12th century.
A video camera, aimed at Keilir, was installed by Víkurfréttir, a local news service, which will start broadcasting live when an eruption occurs, while residents wait – “some with enthusiasm, others with anxiety”.
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