Land masses have risen rapidly on the Reykjanes Peninsula in southwest Iceland after several small earthquakes were recorded recently. Seismic activity has now slowed down. However, as the magma begins to move and accumulate closer to the Earth's surface, the risk of nearby volcanoes erupting increases.
"I'm afraid we're close to an outbreak," Pórdarsson said.
People and authorities should prepare for the possibility of an outbreak and how to evacuate, he also said.
Tourist attraction is close by
Björn Lund, senior lecturer in seismology at Uppsala University, agrees that the risk of an eruption is high.
"It's not at all unlikely, since we've seen swarms of earthquakes like this before eruptions before. Then the quakes are still quite deep, so there is always uncertainty – but there could be an outbreak in the next few days or weeks, he says.
Close to the quakes recorded in Reykjanes in recent days are both the Blue Lagoon and a geothermal power plant, which is worrying.
"It's not a good place if there's an outbreak there. It was better this summer when it was more uninhabited," says Björn Lund.
The eruption this summer that Lund is referring to lasted for about a month in another part of the Reykjanes Peninsula. Volcanic eruptions are relatively common in Iceland – since 2021, there has been one per year.
I don't think there will be a new Eyjafjallajökull
There are about 130 volcanoes in the country. One of the most famous is Eyjafjallajökull, which erupted in the spring of 2010 and stopped air traffic in northwestern Europe. But an outbreak with consequences as great as then is not very likely now, according to Björn Lund.
"The lava flows quite calmly from the volcanoes on the Reykjanes Peninsula. In addition, Eyjafjallajökull and volcanoes in other parts of Iceland are covered in glaciers, and it is precisely when they melt and water flows down into the volcano that it erupts more explosively.