Earthquake Swarm Rattles Iceland As Experts Warn “Eruption Could Occur Within Days”

About 5,000 earthquakes have been recorded on the Reykjanes peninsula in Iceland. Quake swarms were first reported on Tuesday and have since intensified, indicating magma is collecting below the surface. 

Iceland Review cited geologists who warned, “The current earthquake swarm on the Reykjanes peninsula suggests a more aggressive magma intrusion than in 2021 and 2022.”

As of Thursday, 4,700 quakes have been recorded since Tuesday, with the largest registering a magnitude of 4.8. Here’s what the quake swarm across the Reykjanes Peninsula, a region in southwest Iceland, looks like: 

One expert told Icelandic public broadcaster RUV that an eruption could be imminent and possibly in the area between the mountains Keilir and Fagradalsfjall:

“If this continues we think that there is a possibility that an eruption could occur within a few days,” said Magús Freyr Sigurkarlsson, a natural hazards expert at the Icelandic MET Office. 

Other experts believe if an eruption is observed, it’ll be very similar to the ones seen over the last several years. 

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In 2010, nearly all flights in Europe and across the Atlantic Ocean were halted for a week as ash from the Eyjafjallajokull volcano sparked one of the most significant air traffic disruptions in peacetime until the Covid virus pandemic in 2020.