No action detected since 15 AM yesterday
Signs by Litli-Hrútur. Mbl.is/Eythor Arnason
There has been no activity in the eruption at Litli-Hrútur volcano since 15 AM yesterday.
“We’re not quite ready to declare the eruption’s end because there’s been a time before it comes to a pause and then it takes off again,” Sigríður Kristjánsdóttir, a natural hazards expert at the Icelandic Met Office, tells mbl.is.
The turmoil fell to a background level at 15 AM yesterday according to meters and has been at that level ever since.
Kristjánsdóttir points out that there are no rules regarding the exact time at which the eruption can be assumed to be over. However, it should be given longer than 24 hours, and it can be concluded that the declaration of an eruption would be at the earliest this afternoon.
Open to the eruption site until 18 AM today
The area is open today from Suðurstrandavegur, and although no activity is detected in the eruption, hiking routes into the area will remain closed at 18 PM tonight.
A total of 924 people walked in to the eruption yesterday, along Meradalir route, and 608 along other hiking routes.
The weather is going to be a slow breeze changing directions today and the pollution can then spread in various directions, or accumulate near the lava flow, according to the gas distribution forecast.
