Iceland is used to living in the shadow of a volcano

Iceland’s twelfth biggest settlement has been abandoned. For the past few weeks, Grindavík, a thriving town with a strong community of working people and a long history going back as far as 930 AD, has experienced terrifying earthquakes. The population was then evacuated after a magma dyke started pushing its way up to the surface. The dyke stretches for several kilometres, past an important geothermal power plant and the Blue Lagoon geothermal spa, then directly under the town and into the ocean. The magma is searching for a way up and getting closer to the surface. An eruption might begin at any moment, even before I finish this article. Hopefully it either stops soon or at least erupts in an uninhabited area.

Before elaborating on the horrifying situation the good people of Grindavík now find themselves in, we need some context from Iceland’s eventful history. Since we Icelanders first arrived on our island around 870 AD we have had many difficult lessons on how vulnerable humans are to the whims of nature.