“It can start erupting anytime”

“There is a continuing development and we are in the process of assuming that it can start erupting at any time,” says Benedikt Gunn­ar Ófeigs­son, the director of deformation measurements at the Icelandic Met Office, to mbl.is.

The sixth eruption since December of last year is imminent on the Sundhnúkagígar crater row, but measurements by the Icelandic Met Office show similar signs that preceded the last eruption.

It is estimated that the magma volume under Svartsengi has reached 20 million cubic meters and that seismic activity in the area has been increasing in the last few weeks.

Took two weeks longer last time

“If we look at the last event in May, it took two weeks before it started to erupt and there could be a wait time again now,” Ófeigsson says.

He says it is most likely that the eruption will occur in similar area as in the last eruptions.

“We have set up scenarios where this can move closer to Grindavík but it’s most likely that this will be similar to what happened before. We still have to be prepared for the possibility that lava could pass through the defense walls, which is not the most likely possibility,” he says.

A stronger alert at the Met Office

According to Ófeigsson, the Met Office has been on alert more than usual in the last two weeks, as it is very likely that a new eruption is pending.

“There is never a 100 percent chance of an eruption, but everything is pointing in the direction of an eruption,” he says.