The 6th volcanic eruption this year

Photo from the first eruption (April 2021)

Another eruption at the Sundhnúkur crater series on Reykjanes

On Wednesday, November 20, 2024, another eruption began.

The 6th volcanic eruption there this year, the 7th at the Sundhnúkur crater series since it began on December 18, 2023 and the 10th eruption since activity began on Reykjanes and the first eruption in Geldingardalur on March 19, 2021.

However, the current outbreak started somewhat differently than previous ones. This time it did not announce a longer series of earthquakes with more severe tremors. A few small quakes began at 10:21 p.m. on Wednesday, the strongest of these quakes was at 11:12 p.m. with a magnitude of 1.9. And at 11:14 p.m. the eruption began.

Source: vedur.is

Here's a comparison of the earthquake data from some of the most recent eruptions in the area, you can clearly see the differences to the current eruption!

Source: vedur.is

Luckily, the employees in Svartsengi noticed a change in their wells shortly before the outbreak, so they evacuated the power plant and passed on the data. The evacuation of Grindavík and the Blue Lagoon and the local hotels could begin around 17 minutes before the eruption began. So there really wasn't much time, the evacuation was still in progress when the outbreak began.

Here in the morning you could watch on the road authority's webcam (umferdin.is) how the lava flowed over the Grindavíkurvegur again.

Source: umferdin.is

So far, the eruption has already caused damage to the infrastructure.

This time the lava flowed further west than in previous eruptions. The Grindavíkurvegur was separated into two parts by the lava,

Photos: visir.is / Vilhelm Gunnarsson

The lava flowed under the power line from the Svartsengi power plant, causing a power outage in Grindavík.

And the lava destroyed the Blue Lagoon parking lot. The lava flowed at approximately 100 meters per hour. The main parking lot with around 350 parking spaces for cars and buses was completely flooded by the lava within just over an hour.

Source: visir.is / Vilhelm Gunnarsson

A service building where guests of the Blue Lagoon could leave their luggage for storage during opening hours was also destroyed.

Source: visir.is / Vilhelm Gunnarsson

[Translated from here.]