The next eruption on Reykjanes peninsula

August 23rd, 2024 -
View from the hill at Reykjanesbraut

Fissure eruptions at the Sundhnúkur craters

The Sundhnúkur crater row eruptions are a series of eruptions that began in December 2023 north of the coastal town of Grindavík and east of the Svartsengi power plant. These are fissure eruptions in which a few craters were isolated over time and then gradually went out again. And with the next eruption a new crack opens again...

The first outbreak

The first eruption in this series began on December 18th, 2023 at around 10:17 p.m. A fissure about 4 km long opened up, but narrowed to two craters after just one day. The outbreak ended on December 21st, when no more activity was detected in the craters.

Source: mbl.is / Árni Sæberg

The second outbreak

During the next eruption, shortly before 8 a.m. on January 14th, 2024, a new fissure opened near Mount Hagafell and several small fissures near Grindavík. The lava destroyed three houses on the outskirts of the town, which burned down completely. The outbreak was on January 16th ended.

Source: mbl.is / Árni Sæberg

The third outbreak

February 8th - View of the outbreak
from a hill near Reykjanesbraut

The next eruption followed on February 8th, 2024 at around 5:30 a.m., around 30 minutes after the earthquake began. The eruption occurred in approximately the same location as the first eruption on December 18th. The fissure was around 3 km long. During the eruption, the lava flooded the Grindavíkurvegur and the hot water pipe, leaving the Suðurnes region without hot water for several days. However, the new line was completed in record time.

The intensity of the eruption increased again during the first day and on February 9th no more activity was detected in the craters.

View from the plane
on March 22, 2024

The fourth outbreak

On March 16th, 2024, at 8:23 p.m., a fissure opened between the Stóri-Skógfell and Hagafell mountains. The fissure was 3.5 km long. The lava flowed west and south, but the dikes around the town of Grindavík held.

During the course of the eruption, activity was initially concentrated in 7 to 8 craters, but by the end of March only two craters were active. At the beginning of April there was only activity in one crater, which ended after around a month. The outbreak lasted until May 8th.

The fifth outbreak

The next eruption followed on May 29th, 2024 , when it opened a 1 - 2 km long fissure northeast of Mount Sýlingarfell, which quickly extended to around 3.5 km. On June 4th, activity decreased significantly and then became concentrated in only one crater. The eruption destroyed electricity pylons, Grindavík's power supply failed and lava flooded the Grindavíkurvegur and Nesvegur. Activity in the crater ended on June 22nd.

View from the Reykjanesbraut on June 8, 2024

The sixth outbreak

The sixth eruption began on August 22nd, 2024 at 9:26 p.m., just under half an hour after the earthquakes began. The eruption was in a similar location as before, but during the evening, after a strong earthquake after the eruption began, it opened even further to the north, initially covering a distance of more than 7 km.

When the eruption began, there were around 1,300 people in the Blue Lagoon. The evacuation began around 9 p.m. and was still ongoing when the eruption began, but went without any problems.

We were in the hot pot on our terrace in the evening when a friend informed us by message: "Volcano did start!!!!" We were completely surprised, until the evening nothing had indicated an imminent eruption, even if the experts were The land uplift and the accumulated magma had been expecting the next eruption for 6 weeks. So I immediately grabbed my cell phone and looked it up!

After swimming, we turned on the television and watched the live broadcast on Icelandic television with excitement.

Fortunately, things are looking good so far with this eruption in terms of local infrastructure, the lava is flowing more northwards, so there is no current new threat to the city of Grindavík, and so far no hot water or power lines are at risk from the lava .

On the way to the airport the next evening (August 23rd) we also had a look at the current fissure eruption, not that far away from the Reykjanesbraut - but still several kilometers away, so no danger.

Because so many people stopped right next to the road to look at and take photos of the eruption, the police reduced the speed on a section of Reykjanesbraut from 90 km/h to 50 km/h for safety reasons, and the barrier posted on Grindavíkurvegur was moved a little further down the street so that people could drive in and park safely and securely.

We made a quick stop on a hill at Reykjanesbraut, opposite the entrance to Grindavíkurvegur, and had a nice view of the eruption.

August 23rd, 2024

Unfortunately, we both had an aisle seat on the flight, so no direct view of the volcano. I could only see anything on the cell phone screen of the person sitting next to me and caught a glimpse of the eruption through the front window.

{Translated from here]