(Reykjavik) The volcanic eruption that hit the port city of Grindavik, in southwest Iceland, on Sunday is over, the Icelandic Meteorological Office (IMO) announced on Friday.
“It is very likely that magma is no longer flowing into the dyke [intrusion de magma dans la croûte terrestre, NDLR] and that the eruption is over,” wrote the IMO bulletin.
Two fissures opened on Sunday near Grindavik, about forty kilometers southwest of Reykjavik, and one of the lava flows reached the small port town, reducing three houses to ashes.
The few dozen residents resettled at the end of December in Grindavik had been urgently evacuated a few hours before the eruption.
“The risk of ground collapse in the city’s fissures remains high,” continues the IMO.
The city, which usually houses nearly 4,000 inhabitants, was evacuated for the first time on November 11, 2023 as a precaution after hundreds of earthquakes caused by the movement of magma under the earth’s crust – a precursor to a volcanic eruption.
They were then able to return home briefly shortly after the eruption of December 18 and permanently on December 23, but only a few dozen residents chose to resettle in Grindavik.
Thirty-three volcanic systems are considered active in this country of fire and ice, the most volcanic region in Europe.