Science / Environment

Gregory De Pascale: Iceland on edge, waiting for eruption

08:50 am on 18 November 2023

A member of the emergency services walks near a crack cutting across the main road in Grindavik, southwestern Iceland. The town - home to around 4,000 people - was evacuated in the early hours of 11 November. Photo: KJARTAN TORBJOERNSSON / AFP

Iceland is bracing itself for a significant volcanic eruption on the Reykjanes peninsula near the capital Reykjavik. 

Tens of thousands of earthquakes have rattled the country in recent weeks, deforming the land and causing sinkholes.

These tremors, along with evidence that an underground river of magma about 15km in length is rising towards the earth's surface led nearly 4,000 people to evacuate from the town of Grindavik earlier this week.  

Experts say it's not a case of if, but when, an eruption occurs. One of those watching and waiting is Dr Gregory De Pascale, an Associate Professor of Geology at the University of Iceland.

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