Tremors jolt Reykjavik region around midnight

A series of earthquakes shook the Reykjanes peninsula during the night with the strongest one jolting the region at 11:36 p.m. measuring 5.0 on the Richter scale. Residents describe first hearing the earth rumbling followed by the tremors shaking their homes and waking sleeping children. The earthquakes continued until morning with the strongest aftershocks measuring 4.6 at 5:46 a.m. and 4.3 at 6:23 a.m., according to the Icelandic Meteorological Office.

The earthquakes originated in the southwest tip of the Reykjanes peninsula, south of Keflavik Airport, near the town of Grindavik and the Blue Lagoon. The quakes could be felt in Reykjavik.

For the past few months the area around Grindavik has been hit with frequent earthquakes with GPS-linked sensors showing that the earth is rising, likely due to magma accumulating underground.

Earlier this year there were fears of the seismic activity being the precursor of a possible volcanic eruption but at the time authorities deemed the risk of an eruption to be very low. The last time a volcano erupted on the Reykjanes peninsula was around 800 years ago.

So far this century there have been five  volcanic eruptions in Iceland.