Locals living in the path of a looming volcanic eruption are terrified that their homes could become "frozen in time like Pompeii".
A small peninsula in southwest Iceland has been rocked by thousands of minor seismic rumbles over recent weeks, but fears are rising that the Fagradalsfjall volcano could explode as a result of the tremors. Authorities are so concerned that the town of Grindavik has been evacuated because officials fear it's the most likely place to be hit with a torrent of searing-hot magma.
British Expat Anne Sigurdsson, 66, who moved to Iceland from Carlisle seven years ago with husband Siggi, 63, said it all feels âtoo damn close for comfortâ as her house was left shaking.
Speaking to The Mirror, she said: âPeople are apprehensive and everyone feels so much for those evacuated as we know it could so easily be us too. This island could be ripped apart. We fear Grindavik could end up frozen in time like Pompeii. On Friday afternoon it was like shake, rattle and roll, here. You hear it before you feel it, itâs like thunder in the ground. Everything was shaking and the house was creaking. It was like being inside one of those snow globes and being shaken around.â
The town was earlier described as a "ghost town" after the evacuation order. Iceland has declared a state of emergency after the quakes, just off the Reykjanes peninsula. The Icelandic Meteorological Office said an eruption at the fishing community could begin at any time with experts believing a 'corridor' around nine miles deep has developed beneath.
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Iceland's Civil Protection Agency said the decision to evacuate came after they could not rule out a "magma tunnel that is currently forming could reach GrindavÃk". Authorities are currently racing to build defence walls around the Svartsengi geothermal power plant, located just four miles away. It produces hot and cold water and electricity for the entire country.
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Electricity outages have been gripping the Icelandic town of Grindavik.
“HS Orka‘s electrical distribution equipment in Grindavik is damaged in several places due to constant earthquakes and ground deformation", said Iceland's civil defence authority.
“It is unclear if, and when, electricity will be back on in the area. An announcement via text message has been sent to users known to be affected by the power outages,” it said.
Today's situation in Grendavik has come after weeks of volcanic activity.
October 25- A surge of more than 1,000 earthquakes were registered along the Reykjanes Peninsula.
November 4 - Seismic activity plummets, but volcano watchers continue to monitor the situation.
November 9 - The largest earthquake strikes the peninsula since the flurry of seismic activity began. After hitting 4.8 on the richter scale, one of the country's most popular tourist attractions - the Blue Lagoon - has to be closed.
November10 - Authorities evacuate the fishing village of Grindavik as seismic activity is detected close by. Officials declare a state of emergency.
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November 14 - Officials install makeshift defences at the Svartsengi geothermal power plant.
November 15 - Seismic activity has continued since November 11. The majority of the monitoring continues around Grindavik.
Terrified residents living in the shadow of a volcanic eruption fear an Icelandic town could end up “frozen in time like Pompeii”.
Kristjan Rargrarssan, a search and rescue worker holding the list of who is allowed to go into the zone, told us: “It is the red zone, the area with the most earthquakes, the most cracks and the most volcanic activity.”
At the other size of the exclusion zone, surrounded by a barren black volcanic landscape, sheep farmers queued up in the cars with empty wagons but were also turned away.
The red zone is not the only area plagued by earthquakes - some as high as 5.3.
Fifteen minutes away, British Expat Anne Sigurdsson, 66, said it all feels “too damn close for comfort” as her house was left shaking.
She moved to Iceland from Carlisle seven years ago with her husband Siggi, 63, and said: “People are apprehensive and everyone feels so much for those evacuated as we know it could so easily be us too.
“This island could be ripped apart. We fear Grindavik could end up frozen in time like Pompeii.
“On Friday afternoon it was like shake, rattle and roll, here.
"You hear it before you feel it, it’s like thunder in the ground. Everything was shaking and the house was creaking.
“It was like being inside one of those snow globes and being shaken around.”
By Lucy Thornton in Iceland
An animal shelter in Kattholt has been working with other charities to search Grindavik to save pets that were left behind.
Residents were told to evacuate on Friday night into Saturday morning. They were told they could pick up their pets on Saturday, but that didn't happen.
Instead, charities have been going to the town to rescue the pets.
Thus far, 52 cats have been rescued, but four felines, nine fish and four canaries are still stranded.
Hanna Everson for the animal shelter said: "Since evacuation, a total of 289 animals have been rescued, that is all animals from frogs to horses!
"And also a whole chicken farm with 15,000 chicks were rescued."
Authorities in Iceland are developing a plan to protect the town of Grindavik potential volcanic destruction.
Experts believe that an area close to the town is the most likely site that magma will be able to break through the surface. They fear it could then flow towards residential homes.
Iceland's civil defence organisation Almannavarnir said they could build earth walls to divert a river of molten lava away from Grindavik.
Spokesman Jon Thor Viglundsson said similar techniques have been used during recent eruptions. "So this we will try", he said. "You guide lava, you can't stop it. You push up large amounts of earth. It's the only way to make a funnel to turn lava away."
Low-level seismic activity is continuing across Reykjanes peninsula, according to Iceland's Met Office, with 1,200 tremors recorded between midnight and 2pm today. However, no significant earthquakes (above 5.0 on the richter scale) have occured since last Friday.
Meteorologists have however stressed that the risk of eruptions is still "high", and that magma underground could be able to rise the surface.
Magma movements in the at-risk region in Iceland have slowed, according to scientists. But Kristín Jónsdóttir, leader in natural disaster monitoring at the Icelandic Meteorological Office, told local media today: "We think there is still a chance that there will be an eruption."
He said the agency remained "vigilant", and that records had showed that such this slowing pattern can occur before an eruption.
A new phase of geological activity in Iceland could signal the start of 'hundreds of years' of eruptions in the country, according to scientists.
Tremors have been felt across the Reykjanes peninsula in recent days, with concerns that a magna intrusion underneath the region is coming ahead of a potential eruption.
Edward W. Marshall, a researcher at the University of Iceland's Nordic Volcanological Centre told Live Science: "Time's finally up. We can get ready for another few hundred years of eruptions on the Reykjanes."
A steady stream of cars have been seen re-entering the evacuation zone today after being given permission to go back to their homes for a short period of time.
Police told local media that there were a few vehicles waiting at the check point at Grindavíkurvégur, and that the situation at the boundary had improved since yesterday, when large queues were seen.
While emergency workers have strict lists of who can and cannot go through the crossing, some evacuees are reported to have driven to the checkpoint in the hopes that they will be allowed.
It seems to be even more volatile today than yesterday, if possible.
A certain amount of people were allowed down to the fishing village, Grindavik - but today nobody is allowed in. There's a few people on a list that are allowed to go down to a power plant, where they are currently building a wall.
"Nobody can go in unless they've got permission", an emergency worker told the Mirror's Lucy Thornton at a road barrier, as he explained the work authorities have been doing to evacuate the area.
Search and rescue team man checkpoint at volcano exclusion zoneAn emergency worker at the edge of the evacuation 'Red Zone' has shared that experts in Iceland believe the eruption is a matter of 'when, not if'.
Speaking the Mirror's Lucy Thornton at the barrier around six miles from blue lagoon, he said of the evacuations: "Honestly I find it to be a little bit sad - having to leave your home, [worrying] am I gonna get in, am I not gonna get in.
"They say that there's an 'active' possibility but they're no 100% sure. they say it's mostly a matter of when not if, but there's still not a 100% certainty of whether there's an 'if'."
Speaking about evacuees being given just five minutes to retrieve their belongings, Olafur Orvar Olafsson, from local police force in Grindavik said: "I would understand if they were not happy, but this is just the situation today."
Authorities decided to evacuate Grindavik after recent seismic activity in the area moved south towards the town, and monitoring showed that a corridor of magma, or semi-molten rock, was now lying underneath the community.
One of Iceland's top tourist destinations is to remain shut until the end of the month amid ongoing tremors and eruption fears in the area.
The Blue Lagoon, a geothermal pool powered by volanic energy, said last Thursday that they had made the "proactive decision to temporarily close" until 7am this morning - but this has now been extended to November 30.
Panicked residents of small town in Iceland were told they had just five minutes to pick up their belongings and leave their homes behind.
Grindavik, near the capital of Reykjavik, is likely to bear the brunt of the Fagradalsfjall volcano's next eruption, which has been expected for several days. After the town of 3,400 was evacuated earlier this week, authorities told locals they could only return to their homes during daylight hours - and said only one person per household could go in.
Those who were allowed back were told only to pick up their most essential belongings, including pets, passports, prescription medicines and personal documents.
Read more here.
Grindavik residents were given only five minutes to collect belongings from evacuated homes (Euronews)Local police chief Ulfar Ludviksson says there has been 'no change' in the situation in Grindavik overnight - and confirmed some residents have been given permission to return to their homes.
He told local media: "My information is the situation has not changed since yesterday. Our agreement today is that we let people in from Grindavik and those who are allowed to enter the town are the residents we have contacted.
"All the residents who have the opportunity to enter the most dangerous area of the town today have been called."
The UK Foreign Office has said that the main international airport at Keflavik remains open - but warned that Brits travelling to the country should keep up to date with the situation.
Their latest advice reads: "Earthquakes and indications of volcanic activity have increased above normal levels on the Reykjanes peninsula, southwest of Reykjavik. The Icelandic authorities continue to monitor the area closely, particularly the area northwest of Mt Thorbjörn near the Svartsengi power plant and the Blue Lagoon. On 10 November, a Civil Protection Alert was declared after an intense swarm of earthquakes. The town of Grindavík was evacuated as a precaution.
"Some roads have been closed and visitors are advised to stay away from the area. Keflavik International Airport is operating as normal. While there is no current eruption, it is increasingly possible that one could occur. You should monitor local media for updates and follow the authorities advice on travel to the area."
Plumes of smoke are forming in Iceland and bulldozers are scrambling to build defences as fears mount of an unprecedented volcanic eruption on the small island nation.
Iceland's southwestern peninsula could now face decades of volcanic instability, the Icelandic Met Office (IMO) has warned. After 800 years of inactivity, a 2021 eruption of the Fagradalsfjall volcano on the Reykjanes Peninsula marked the start of a new cycle of volcanic activity. The IMO says that the "likelihood of a volcanic eruption is high" and could happen at any time in the coming days.
Now, a live webcam has been set up so people can watch the impending explosion and the magma bubbling away.
Watch the live stream here.
Iceland volcano live cam shows smoke rise from Fagradalsfjall (afarTV/Youtube)Residents of Grindavik have been left without power since just before 5pm yesterday evening.
But a spokesperson for energy firm HS Veitur said damage to infrastructure in the area from recent tremors has stopped their engineers from fixing the problem. Some parts of the town have also been left without hot water since Sunday.
Photographs this morning show a massive bulldozer being used to build a line of defences against the volcano.
Just over three miles of ditches are being dug, which it is hoped will stem the flow of the lava.
The town of Grindavik has been described as a “ghost town” after everyone was ordered to flee due to the threat of eruptuon.
Iceland has declared a state of emergency after the quakes, just off the Reykjanes peninsula. The Icelandic Meteorological Office said an eruption at the fishing community could begin at any time with experts believing a 'corridor' around nine miles deep has developed beneath.
Iceland's Civil Protection Agency said the decision to evacuate came after they could not rule out a "magma tunnel that is currently forming could reach Grindavík". Authorities are currently racing to build defence walls around the Svartsengi geothermal power plant, located just four miles away. It produces hot and cold water and electricity for the entire country.
Read more here.
Iceland has a number of active volcanoes (AFP via Getty Images)