Authorities are warning residents of the Icelandic town of Grindavik that it could be months before they can return to their homes as fears of a volcanic eruption remain.
Grindavik, which was evacuated by the Icelandic government this week after seismic activity and air content analysis indicated possible explosions, has been put off the grid for the foreseeable future.
Residents were given only a short time to pack up their belongings and leave the city, which is now believed to be in a magma corridor flowing beneath the area.
POPULAR TOURIST DESTINATION ICELAND ON EDGE AS EXPERTS FEAR IMMINENT VOLCANIC Eruption
The road to Grindavik is closed by emergency services and police. Access is only possible with special permits. The magma continues to approach the surface and an eruption is expected in the next few days. Icelandic police and emergency services have arranged a day to allow some of Grindavik’s residents to return home to collect some items. (Raúl Moreno/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
The Icelandic Meteorological Office said as of midnight yesterday, “about 800 earthquakes have been measured, most of them in the middle of the magma dike at Sundhnúk at a depth of about 3-5 km. [1.8 to 3.1 miles].”
“Seismic activity has remained stable since November 11. The main focus of seismic activity monitoring remains in the area of the dyke and Grindavik,” the Icelandic Meteorological Service said.
Sundhnúk is just over 2 miles north-northeast of Grindavík.
ICELAND OFFICIALS SAY ‘HIGH’ CHANCE OF VOLCANIC Eruption As Hundreds Of EARTHQUAKES RIP AREA
This photo shows residents carrying items from their homes to a vehicle in Grindavik, southwest Iceland, after earthquakes. The southwestern town of Grindavik — home to about 4,000 people — was evacuated in the early hours of November 11 after the displacement of magma beneath the Earth’s crust triggered hundreds of earthquakes, which experts warned could be a precursor to a volcanic eruption. explosion. (KJARTAN TORBJOERNSSON/AFP via Getty Images)
FOX Weather reported that sulfur dioxide gas was detected in the air in Grindavík yesterday, an indication of possible impending volcanic activity.
Videos and images have also emerged showing smoke billowing from cracked roads in Grindavík in recent days.
Iceland sits in the middle of the Mid-Atlantic Rift, making it a hotbed for geothermal activity. There are over 130 volcanoes here, as well as a variety of geysers and fissures.
Emergency services and police are checking residents of Grindavik to see if they have permission to collect things from their homes. The magma continues to approach the surface and an eruption is expected in the next few days. Icelandic police and emergency services have arranged a day to allow some of Grindavik’s residents to return home to collect some items. (Raúl Moreno/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)
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Iceland is a Nordic nation. The first people said to have explored the island were Vikings from Norway, who settled here as early as the ninth century.
The Norwegian societies created an Icelandic Commonwealth, which eventually came under Danish rule.
Iceland became an independent republic in 1944.
Fox News Digital’s Danuta Hamlin and Greg Norman contributed to this report.
