Iceland is bracing for a volcanic eruption in the coming days after a series of earthquakes and evidence of hot magma flowing quickly underground.
The fishing town of Grindavik, home to 3,000 people, has been ordered to evacuate amid concerns it could be destroyed by lava flows.
Even though earthquake activity died down a little overnight into Monday, an eruption in the next few days is still “highly likely”, according to Bill McGuire, professor emeritus of geophysical and climate hazards at University College London.
If the eruption occurs in the stretch of fracture that is under the sea, it could become “explosive”, says Dr Michele Paulatto, an expert in volcanic and tectonic processes from Imperial College London.
The Eyjafjallajokull eruption back in 2010 produced a huge ash cloud that caused chaos to global air travel.
What’s more, he says, lessons have been learned since the 2010 incident and even if a future event produced a similar ash cloud there would only be about one-third of the flight cancellations compared to what occurred in 2010.
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