Workers sent home for security reasons

HS Orka employees in Svartsengi were sent home earlier today due to changes in drilling holes.

The change is not so great that the Met Office considers it a reason for further evacuation of the area. Despite this, the company sent its employees home for safety reasons.This is confirmed by Hjördís Guðmundsdóttir, information officer of the Civil Protection Department, in a conversation with mbl.is.

Evidence of movement in the area has been observed in the first place in the drilling holes, Guðmundsdóttir says. At this time it is not possible to determine whether there will be further evacuations in the area today.

No evacuation in the Blue Lagoon

The Blue Lagoon will remain open and no evacuation will be made at this point. Helga Árnadóttir, CEO of sales, operations, and services of Blue Lagoon, says the company is strictly following the instructions of the Civil Protection and there has been no mandate to evacuate.

“As always, we are strictly following the recommendations of the Civil Protection and the Met Office. As has been mentioned in their case, they do not see a reason for evacuation at this time. We are in good contact with the Civil Protection and the Met Office because of this,” Helga says.

About 50 tremors in the magma channel

In the last day or so, about 50 earthquakes have been detected in the magma channel at Svartsengi. The largest one was 1.8 in magnitude. The magma accumulation and inflation continue, according to Sigríður Kristjánsdóttir, a natural hazard specialist at the Icelandic Met Office, and everything has been in similar overnight.

Around 16 to 17 million cubic meters of magma have been added to the magma chamber since March 16. There is an increased likelihood of a new magma run and another eruption soon.