The second volcanic eruption in Grindavík, Iceland, is winding down, according to analyzes by the Icelandic Meteorological Agency. This morning the organization’s natural disaster expert Elísabet Pálmadóttir he said to RÚV, the country’s main television network, that even from the northernmost fissure that opened on Sunday, the widest one, the flow of lava stopped shortly after one o’clock today. During the night, more than 160 small earthquakes were recorded due to the movement of magma underground and also for this reason it cannot yet be said that the eruption is over: there is still the possibility that other fissures will open in the next few hours and for this currently the inhabitants of the town cannot return to their homes.
The eruption destroyed three houses and covered a stretch of road in a residential area of Grindavík, which is a town with 3,600 inhabitants, in lava, as well as knocking out part of the aqueduct. During the night, emergency works were carried out to supply hot water to the areas of the country that had remained without. In the first days of the year, to protect the city from possible eruptions (considered probable since last November), the construction of some anti-lava barriers began, essentially earthen walls designed to stem the flow. They were partially effective in preventing the lava from reaching the city, but the eruptive fissure closest to the houses opened on the other side of the barrier.