A volcano could destroy an entire city in Iceland: the authorities made an important decision for salvation

Illustrative photo/DIP

Iceland declared a state of emergency in November due to a possible volcanic eruption. Therefore, the country's authorities began to act proactively to protect the population from disaster.

The town of Grindovik, which is threatened by an expected volcanic eruption on the Reykjan Peninsula, plans to build protective walls. It became known that around midnight on November 13, the Icelandic Parliament supported the government bill on the protection of critical infrastructure, so this gives formal permission to begin construction of protective structures.

Work on protective structures has begun

Gudrun Fasteinsdottir, who is the Minister of Justice, thanked the government for the quick response. She noted that she would instruct the police to begin construction of a wall around the Svartseng station, which supplies part of the area with electricity and water.

According to the publication, work is already underway, as trucks have been transporting the necessary materials to the site since Monday.

Over the past 24 hours, tremors on the peninsula have become weaker, but during the night alone there were almost 500 of them. The epicenter of most tremors was the zone of the magma tunnel near Grindovik. The magnitude of the strongest shock was 3.8.

What actions does the government take?

More than 3,000 people live in the city of Grindavik. On the morning of November 11, residents of the city were evacuated immediately after the displacement of magma under the earth's crust led to hundreds of earthquakes.

Yesterday, November 13, in the city of Grindovik, evacuated local residents were allowed to return briefly to pick up additional belongings from their home; it is known that they were evicted over the weekend.

Now a working group consisting of representatives of the government and local authorities is looking for options for the long-term resettlement of almost 4 thousand evacuated citizens. It is noted that many people's houses were severely damaged by earthquakes.

Also, according to experts, a crack in the ground near Grindavik may open in one of the fault zones with a length that can reach about 15 kilometers. In addition, experts do not rule out an eruption from the ocean floor – this could lead to a large cloud of ash. As of today, earthquakes and ground uplift caused by the intrusion of magma have already caused damage to roads and houses in Grindavik and its surroundings.

What is known about the volcano in Sicily

• We are talking about Mount Etna. The last eruption was in August of this year. Then the operation of the airport was stopped, and restrictions on the movement of cars were introduced on the city streets.

• It is the most active volcano in Europe and is located on the east coast of the island of Sicily, near the cities of Messina and Catania.

• It is known that the height is approximately 3326 – 3350 meters, but the height is constantly changing due to eruptions and emissions of slag.