Home
Weather Dublin
WeatherRadar
RainfallRadar
TemperatureRadar
WindRadar
LightningRadar
Weather News
Editor's Pick
Discover the app
Weather widget
Contact us
Apps
    Home / Editor's Pick /

    Reporter on the scene: Imminent eruption threatens Iceland

10:38
15 November 2023

Reporter on the scene
Imminent eruption threatens Iceland

With fears of an imminent eruption, our weather reporter Marco Kaschuba is on the ground in Iceland.

On Iceland's Reykjanes Peninsula, southwest of the capital Reykjavik, a volcanic eruption is highly likely in the near future.

According to volcanologists, it is only a matter of hours or days before the eruption begins. Because the danger zone is also in populated areas, a state of emergency has been declared.

The 3700 residents of Grindavík who were fully evacuated, were allowed to return to the evacuated town for a short time on Tuesday November 14th to collect personal belongings.

Residents of the evacuated town were allowed to return home briefly to collect personal belongings.
Residents of the evacuated town were allowed to return home briefly to collect personal belongings. - © Weather & Radar

Every car was checked, but not every resident was allowed into the town because the crowd was so large. There was a long traffic jam with a wait of several hours. In Grindavík itself, each household was only given five minutes to complete tasks.

However, on Tuesday afternoon when they arrived, there was another new alarm and the area had to be completely evacuated once again. The reason for this was a high level of sulphur dioxide in the air, caused by volcanic gases.

Earthquakes caused by the rupture of rock layers

In recent weeks there have been thousands of earthquakes in the area. The tremors are caused by the movement of magma, which has been collecting in a kind of storage chamber at a depth of four to five kilometres for about two and a half weeks.

To make more room, magma pushes itself through cracks and crevices in the rock, which repeatedly breaks open. This breaking up of the rock layers can be felt as an earthquake.

If the magma reaches the earth's surface somewhere during these processes, the volcanic eruption begins. However, it is difficult to specify the exact time period that this may happen.

The exact location can also only be roughly estimated. The magma on Iceland is currently around 500 metres below the earth's surface.

Magma channel directly beneath Grindavík

The magma channel currently runs directly beneath the town of Grindavík and is around 15 km long. It is also possible that the magma will initially move sideways towards the coast and that the eruption could even take place under the sea.

Over 24,000 earthquakes in one monthread more
Weather & Radar editorial team

More on the topic

Winds grow and rain spreads Wednesday. Prelude to Austen. . . Wednesday 21 October 2026
Split weather map showing strong winds up to 40 mph across southern Britain and blue rain bands over Scotland, Ireland and England, with warning symbols.
Wednesday 21 October 2026

Prelude to Austen

Winds grow and rain spreads Wednesday
First major storm of the season. Storm Austen named. . Weather Videos. Tuesday 20 October 2026
On the left, WindRadar shows a storm system over the UK with strong winds. On the right, high waves are crashing against a sea wall. A warning symbol indicates a storm.
Weather VideosTuesday 20 October 2026

Storm Austen named

First major storm of the season
Shooting stars from the Orionids peak. Mixed visibility overnight. . . Wednesday 21 October 2026
Split image showing a bright green meteor streaking across a starry night sky beside a UK weather map with rain over Scotland and southern England.
Wednesday 21 October 2026

Mixed visibility overnight

Shooting stars from the Orionids peak
All weather news

This might also interest you

A stormy week in the skies above. Your weather - Your shots. . . Sunday 30 August 2026
Split image showing lightning branching beneath dark storm clouds above rooftops on the left and an orange-pink sunset over a calm sea on the right.
Sunday 30 August 2026

Your weather - Your shots

A stormy week in the skies above
Flooding, gales, and heavy snow. Storm Chandra. . . Tuesday 27 January 2026
Split image showing aerial flooding in a town with muddy water covering roads on the left, and a rural road on the right blocked by heavy snowfall with vans stopped and a person walking in snow.
Tuesday 27 January 2026

Storm Chandra

Flooding, gales, and heavy snow
A frozen start to the weekend. Icy conditions. . . Friday 13 February 2026
UK temperature map dated 14.02 showing widespread subzero values in blue shading, with readings such as −4 in Glasgow, −3 in Dublin, and −2 in London, alongside a blue thermometer icon.
Friday 13 February 2026

Icy conditions

A frozen start to the weekend
All articles
Weather & Radar

Weather & Radar is also available on

Google Play StoreApp Store

Company

Contact us Privacy Policy Legal info Accessibility statement

Services

Uploader

Socials

facebooktwitteryouTubelinkList