Iceland’s government wants to draw up a plan for if there is a volcanic eruption on Iceland’s Reykjanes Peninsula. Possible scenarios will be discussed at an emergency meeting with the government at lunchtime on Sunday. That according to the Icelandic television company Ruv, which follows the development of events live.
Local authorities are already making preparations, for example making sure that children in the evacuated coastal town of Grindavik can continue to go to school, reports Ruv.
A state of emergency has been declared in the area and lava can push up on land and in the sea just outside the city at any time, Iceland’s Meteorological Institute has previously warned. Magma flows in a 15-kilometer-long fissure 800 meters underground just outside Grindavik, according to the authorities’ latest models.
Can pick up supplies
Residents of Grindavik hope to be allowed to briefly return to their homes to collect food, water and other supplies. However, local police chief Ulfar Ludviksson tells Ruv that it is still unclear whether it will be safe enough to allow residents to return and that nothing has been decided yet.
– I think that those who live in Grindavík may need to be a little patient. Nothing has been decided in that regard. If there is imminent danger in Grindavík, I don’t see us letting people in there.
880 quakes during the night
During the night to Sunday, according to the authorities, a total of 880 earthquakes were measured on the Reykjanes Peninsula. The tremors have been weaker than those recorded in previous nights, which may indicate that an eruption is imminent, writes TT.