(Grindavík) After their evacuation, the approximately 4,000 residents of Grindavik, a town in southwest Iceland threatened by a volcanic eruption, wonder if they will one day be able to return home.
“My mother told me she never wanted to set foot there again,” Eythor Reynisson, who was born and raised in this port city, told AFP.
On November 11, at dawn, the picturesque village, located 40 km from Reykjavik, the capital, was evacuated as a precaution after hundreds of earthquakes caused by the movement of magma under the earth’s crust – a precursor to a volcanic eruption.
Thousands of small earthquakes have since continued to shake the area.
Road torn apart by huge cracks, cracked buildings… The place that looks like a postcard is now upside down.
PHOTO MARKO DJURICA, REUTERS
A search and rescue team member jumps over a road crack in the town of Grindavik on November 15.
The damage can be repaired in a few months but the resumption of volcanic activity raises the question of the future of this area: is it really habitable?
“Even if the magma pressure stops, there is a problem, is it wise to live in a city like this?” », asks Freysteinn Sigmundsson, geophysicist at the University of Iceland.
The Reykjanes Peninsula had been spared from eruptions for eight centuries, until March 2021. Since then, there have been two more, in August 2022 and July 2023.
A sign, for volcanologists, of a resumption of volcanic activity in the region.
“Strong community”
Despite these difficult conditions, conviviality and resilience are present in the queues to enter the village, notes an AFP journalist on site. The residents hug each other, laugh together.
“I am very moved,” says Johannes Johannesson, resident of Grindavik.
A “difficult period of uncertainty” is looming for the city, notes Mr. Sigmundsson, who predicts that other eruptions could occur “in the coming years”.
Faced with this precarious situation, residents are wondering if it is worth rebuilding their homes.
“It is possible that the activity [actuelle] moves to another region. At that point, it would be acceptable to return to Grindavik,” says the researcher.
For others, you have to make do, because Iceland is a volcanic territory with the risks that this implies.
“Our community is strong, it is possible to rebuild it,” believes Eythor Reynisson.
Thirty-two volcanic systems are considered active in this country of fire and ice, the most volcanic region in Europe.
But the evacuation of a city is a rare event, specialists note.
The last one dates back to 1973, during the eruption on the island of Heimaey, off the south coast of Iceland.
In Grindavik, infrastructure was severely damaged. Steam escapes from burst hot water pipes and the electricity network only works half the time.
Residents were rehoused in hotels, with friends or family and even in emergency accommodation, while waiting for a return to normal.
Since the evacuation of the city, the authorities have organized some express returns to allow them to recover objects that are important to them such as photo albums, furniture or clothing.
PHOTO MARKO DJURICA, REUTERS
A police officer checks residents of Grindavik who are waiting to enter their house on November 16.
These operations are carried out with the greatest caution. On Tuesday, the village suddenly had to be emptied after sulfur dioxide levels indicated magma was approaching the surface.
“It was panic,” Mr. Reynisson remembers.
The Nordic country has been on fire for almost a week, preparing for a volcanic eruption at any moment.
And the risk only increases.
“Routine for the family”
“There is a new flow of magma in this crack, and it is widening,” notes geophysicist Sigmundsson. The hundreds of earthquakes that shook Grindavik were caused by a massive accumulation of magma in a 15 kilometer long fissure located 2 to 5 km underground.
As long as this flow continues, the probability of an eruption remains high.
“We need to prepare for an eruption that could occur today or in the coming week, or even in a month,” adds the researcher.
The most likely location for an eruption “is north of the town of Grindavik.”
A situation synonymous with anxiety for residents, who will remain in the dark for several more weeks.
Now it’s “about trying to manage,” explains Johannes Johannesson. “Trying to find a routine for the family and moving forward.”